


The tale of Galar's rising Legend

by ZamiShah



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Sword & Shield | Pokemon Sword & Shield Versions
Genre: Aged up characters, Brotherly Love, Depression, Drama, Family, Family moments, Friendship, Hop's mom is not fine with him leaving, Inspired by Canon, Leon is a good bro, Lots more - Freeform, Mental Health Issues, More tags to be added, No Beta, Pining, Prota's dad exists and has a bigger role, Sadness, Slow Burn, Thara has feelings for Hop, Wild Area is dangerous, based on PokemonShield, but Hop has only one thing on his mind, he and other ex-challenger have a bad view of Gym Challenge, pokemon can be brutal, rated T because Thara (Gloria) swears a lot, strong rivarly, taking the plot into a deeper direction, there'll be a lot of feels, will diverge from canon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-17
Updated: 2020-02-07
Packaged: 2021-02-26 19:07:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 23,876
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21783571
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZamiShah/pseuds/ZamiShah
Summary: It was all about Legends.People who had done great deeds in their lives. That had done things no one else did ever before. Who had reached goals no one else could ever reach.  Who made a name for themselves that would be remembered for all eternity.Very few Legends have ever existed, very few that manage to become a legend and only in the fewest occasions one would be able to see a legend happening.But who knew that this year's Gym Challenge would end up being the tale of a rising legend? A legend that would never be forgotten. That should never be forgotten.
Relationships: Hop and Gloria, Hop and Original Character
Comments: 4
Kudos: 21





	1. Starting point

**Author's Note:**

> I decided to start over again. Since I was not too satisfied with my first try on this story.  
> Basically the plot in Sword and Shield is interesting and all, but not deep enough. I really liked their approach on giving NPCs more personality and how they tried to show us that our Rivals are working hard to reach the same goal as us. Because at least to me not many rivals felt like they truly wanted to be champion and all.  
> It is nice that they put Rivalry more in focus than in previous games and the Gym Challenge really offers that.  
> Some more things to clear. I tried to put more system into it. Like rules and such. Plus the characters are aged up because Wild Area is a dangerous place kiddos. 16 is still pretty young, but that will be part of the problem you'll see later on.  
> Thara is the name I chose for my character and I preferred referring to her like that. Plus she looks like my customized character because I loved that design.  
> Another note: I am not a native English speaker so I have still trouble especially with 'British slangs' and might convey that too well. So I apologize in advance. Also I do not have a beta.

_In the modern day of the pokémon world, it was all about strength. All about skills. All about being a good trainer. Every region had it’s focus on that aspect. Every region had special ways of presenting them and performing them. Had their own way to motivate newcomers to start their own journey and grow into strong trainers.  
And all of it leads back many thousands of years when people found the very first concepts of pokémon training. And those concepts have only been growing bigger. And bigger.  
To the point that having a pokémon with you was second nature to human. No matter for what benefits. May it be just simple pets, or work or battling.  
Battling was their true nature and therefore what was the most popular. _

_Among all the region Galar was the one the most centered around that aspect. The one region that wanted to stand out the most among any other. The region that wanted to have the strongest trainers among them all.  
Ever since it had been reigned by kings, tournaments were the biggest activity and what drove in people the most.  
Nowadays they would have every two years a tournament for young trainers to have a chance to rise to the top. To challenge the best and most skilled once in all of Galar and to prove their survival skills in foreign, in unknown places- the ever so famous Gym Challenge._

_It was Galar’s greatest event and every young aspiring trainers dream to join. And the goal was simple. To have the strongest trainers in the whole world. And the system influenced their society strongly.  
There was nothing that mattered more. Nothing that was more in focus. No matter what one would want to be they all needed to start off as trainers and do battles. So much that people who weren’t going to do so where looked down upon. _

_The rules were simple: Teenagers with the minimum age of 16 and the maximum of 20 are allowed to participate and have the chance to rise to the top and claim the champion’s seat.  
For young teenagers, however, it was not just about being champion alone. It was about gaining recognition and increasing the chances of having a respectful career in the future. Having sponsors that were ready to put their money into them. Have fans that would help them get a higher status and perform battles in other ways and gain higher ranks. Being a trainer is the start to everything. Being a good one is a hopeful way to success. Being gym leader a chance. And being champion the goal. The one thing that mattered the most. _

_From very young ages children are taught many things about pokémon. Throughout their teenage years they would start the preparations for their first take at the Gym Challenge and once they turned old enough, they would receive a certain pokémon to start off their adventure and take a shot at it. However, that journey was not without risk and mostly only realized once they took it on. It was more than just showing off your battle skills. It was about survival skills as well.  
The gym Challenge was not without danger and if you were not to be careful very much it could cost you everything. Even your life. Yet people would take on risks to have a chance of a brighter future and greater fame._

16-year-old Hop was not much different than most young aspiring trainers. He dreamed of joining the Gym Challenge for years now. Practicing in may ways and watching nearly all of the matches he could see on TV. Watching hard working trainers and what skills they developed. Watching them grow stronger and farther into the Champion’s Cup.  
He envied them. The more he watched the more he wanted to stand on the pitch himself. He wanted to be out there facing each gym leader. Facing each obstacle and winning against them all. Proceeding to the semifinals and eventually facing off the ever so famous champion. Galar’s strongest and most skilled trainer. His biggest role model and not to forget his one and only older brother. Leon was amazing. More than anyone else. 

Hop remembered when it was about time for Leon to start off his journey. He had the skills. He was known here in their small home as an expert and a talent unlike any other. Everyone was excited for him to try and participate. Hop too. He would be excited for the moment he could see his older brother on TV and cheer him on. See how he defeated anyone he had to face off and how he would rise to the top. Not many trainers from Postwick had ever joined the Challenge and ever since Leon, none had managed to do so.  
But next year will be different. He was sixteen and therefore old enough to join the following spring. He will be another trainer from Postwick. He will be doing the same as his older brother and he will be succeeding just like him. No, he will be even better than him. 

He had been preparing for that. Had been chasing pokémon around and catching one for himself. A wooloo. It wasn’t special at all. Many people here kept wooloos, but those were for other reasons than battling. They were kept in herds and their wool used to make cloths from it. It was rare but there were also wild wooloos around and this one here particularly had been especially wild. Aggressive. It had caused a lot of problems for the town and people were near chasing it off. Or even worse killing it. It was a troublesome pokémon. Hop decided to take matters into his own hand and tried to catch it. It was a hard task and the pokémon resisted for a longer while but in the end could not win against the boy's stubbornness. 

Now he had it for over a year and the boy finally grew to its liking. 

He didn’t care when wooloo was referred to as a weak pokémon. One that was not fit for battling. Because this one had quite the strong spirit. And no matter what would ever come over him he would never leave his partner behind. Wooloo had a special place in his life and that alone mattered. That alone made him a trainer.  
The day he would become a legend, he would still be having wooloo around. No matter what. It was his very first pokémon and even Leon called him a good trainer in the making. He was on a good way.

On the other hand not everyone was excited for the Gym Challenge. Not everyone dreamed of being champion. Even if only a small part of their region. Thara was part of that. A teenage girl soon to reach her 16th birthday and therefore being ready to participate next year. Her hair was a deep red shade no one other than her could ever have, long and straight. Her skin was a light peachy color and her eyes shone in a beautiful yellow color. 

She was pretty, many people complimented her mother for that, but soon they will all ask her if she gave the Gym Challenge a try. She didn’t want to but that would not be said out loud. Postwick did not harbor many trainers at all but people would still be judging one who would not want to be a trainer. One who would not join the majority and gain fame.

That was one thing Thara considered. If she challenged gyms and succeeded in that she would become a popular trainer. One that would be known all over the region. She might have fans. Yeah. Who would not want to be famous? That was the only thing that drove people to do the Gym Challenge in the first place.  
Thara however did not want to join the trend all together. She did not want to have the pressure of succeeding on her shoulders. She did not want to be stressed out and be stared at. She did not want to stand in front of a camera and know that over thousands of people are watching her. Expecting her to give them a good show. Wasn’t that what it was all about? To bring in a lot of money and please the fans. To lure in tourists that were interested in the event and help the Pokémon League to gain a lot of money. 

What if she was not good enough? What if she failed even at the first gym? She would fail in front of the whole region and end up being a joke. End up being harassed for her fail. End up on the bottom. What then?  
She lived in a small place that didn’t have many trainers. Postwick was the smallest town in Galar. Only a few people trained pokémon but none of them ever managed to get endorsed to even try their luck. Because there was no way to get endorsed. At least not here. And neither in Wedgehurst the neighbor town.  
They were the most unpopular places to live in and many people from outside made fun of them. Made fun whenever people tried to get endorsed and fail. They would come here to get certain berries that would only be here. They would come to buy wool and plants. To see how people lived here and examine wildlife around here.  
They would all make comments on how again no trainer from Postwick or Wedgehurst were in the Gym Challenge. 

Thara hated the place here and never understood why her mother moved here in the first place. Why her parents had to live separately and why she had to be here. She hated Postwick. She hated to be made fun of.  
Sometimes she would consider joining in the Gym Challenge only to make people shut up. It was not about any of the inhabitants but rather herself. She had dignity. She would not let people harass her like that.

Like most mornings she had been sent out by her mother to go buy different exotic berries. Her mom liked to cook new meals every day and try out many different recipes. And this time was a special curry on her list.

“Ah what a rare sight...” The cashier was by now used to their special requests and liked to mock her for them. Mainly since Thara was not too active. She rolled her eyes and handed him a small note. With all the berries written on there. “Just give me that, old man.”  
He wasn’t pleased with her attitude but listened nonetheless. He dug through different boxes in search for the right ones. Thara waited. Impatiently. Behind her she knew some trouble was arriving. There were this certain group of teenager from Motostoke that visited Wedgehurst a lot often. And this time they were here to brag about their endorsement. They manage to pass through the tests and were allowed to join. One of them had a cousin or so that lived here in Wedgehurst and came visiting them a lot.  
They just had your average big town ego. “Well guess this will be another year without anyone here participating.” _Here we go again!_ Thara ignored them. Or at least tried to. She came into a fight with them a few weeks ago. Back then they were making fun of a bunch of kids that were trying to train pokémon they got as a gift from their parents. They would harass the kids and tell them that people from here would never make it far as trainers. Thara had enough of them and stepped in. Somehow her mouth ran too much and she was declaring to be a strong trainer and one that would end the long streak of not just Postwick's absence in the Challenge. She claimed to be one of the best. 

In reality, all she had was a budew and nothing else. It was not strong. Not competitive but it was one she held dear. It was a gift after all. She had no idea why she declared that but sometimes she talked without thinking much and that was something that got her in trouble a lot.  
“What ya say lady, have ya been endorsed!” They were addressing Thara much to the girl's dismay, but she did not react. She needed to ignore them. _No more trouble this time!_ Unfortunately for her, they did not forget her declaration and since then nothing much had happened. She had nothing done to polish her skills and neither had she any chances to show them off. Neither in Postwick nor in Wedgehurst for that matter were any facilities that would hold any kind of tests. 

That was how it worked in most towns. There would be different classes for trainers to take and have an in depth view of battling. How they needed to train their pokémon, how they needed to treat them and how to best use them in battles. And once those classes were done they would assign for a tests at the end of a month. In which they will face off different paid trainers and show their skills in battling and after showing their catch rate. And those who succeeded were given an endorsement and had the chance to join the Gym Challenge. That was not possible for Thara. Aside from living here in Postwick. Those tests cost a lot of money. Money she could not afford. The odds were not fair.

“Of course not! A Postwick would never be good enough!” 

There they go again. Starting to bash down the people here. Thara may have not been fond of many but if they chose to not become trainers it was their own thing. It annoyed her greatly that people would be bashed down just for that. So she turned around and gave the boys a murderous look. They gulped nervously, but would not back down. “Oh, really?!” Thara left her berries on the counter for a moment and walked up to the boys. They were bigger than her, yet she stood strong in front of them. And they were the ones backing up a bit. “Sorry to bring it down to you, but our Champion originated from Postwick!” 

There was nothing to say about it. Nothing the boys could do. She was right. Champion Leon was by far the most famous person in Galar. More than any other champion had been. More than any other trainer. But when it came to his origin not many would mention where they lay. Because apparently it was not good to have the greatest trainer ever be coming from a small unpopular place. The media was just like that. Leon was known even beyond Galar and to impress other regions they likely left things out. “And there is still time for the Challenge to start! I’ll get endorsed and kick your fucking ass!”  
She turned around back to the stall and collecting her berries. The anger was still apparent on her face and the cashier nervously waited for her to be finished. He knew better than to speak to her in that mood. “So, what! You’ll only be one among these losers!” The boys would not stop. Thara was considering smacking their faces with one of the big stones from the sideways. And she was only so close to do so. Turning back to them. Crossing her arms, she waited for them to say one more thing to trigger her. And they did. 

“Champion Leon is an exception! You’ll never get endorsed. What will you do alone anyway!” They teased, “Only one won’t change much!”  
Thara was about to latch onto them when another boy spoke up. “It will be two!” She turned to the direction the voice came from. There was a boy roughly her age. Purple hair styled up and dark skin. His eyes were big and a beautiful shade of golden hazel tone. He wore a grey jersey and black pants. With his thumb he pointed at himself. “I will be joining in too!”  
They all looked at him with wide eyes. Thara had seen the kid around here a lot. Always racing and leaving other kids behind. She heard many talk about him. Some would comment on how energetic he was and how no on really could keep up with him. And other would talk about him in worse ways. The boy had a wooloo tagging along. “But don’t get your hopes up! I’ll be next champion!”  
The other boys burst out in laughter. “Rubbish! A loser like you?” 

“With a wooloo?!” they laughed even louder. 

Thara rolled her eyes. These teens were annoying. Why wouldn’t they stop coming here anyway? But the boy was not bothered the slightest bit. His confidence not wavering at all. “Of course!” and his little partner cried in addition. “Let’s see when the Challenge starts. I’ll take you on!”  
Thara saw it in his face. He wanted to challenge them to a battle. Right now. At that very moment but that was not an option. Battles end up in a mess and no one here wanted their belongings, their properties to be harmed. “As if!” The other boys were annoyed at him. However, they did not care to keep their disgusting attitude and decided to leave. Turning around to stick out their tongues at the purple-haired boy before disappearing. 

“Man! What a mess.” He sighed. Petting his little partner. Thara was still there in silence. Never had she heard of anyone around here joining in the Challenge. She thought people here might have given up. The boy smiled at her and somehow that made her heart skip a beat.  
He suddenly got a text message and had to look at his phone. “Oh! Crap! Almost forgot!” He waved Thara goodbye and ran off where he came from. Thara went back home. She put the berries on the kitchen counter and laid down on her couch. TV on. All channels were about the Gym Challenge. About its preparations and about promising trainers. She thought about what happened earlier. Maybe she had a chance to participate. But was that what she wanted? Was she even interested in becoming champion? Not really, but she wanted to leave Postwick so bad. The words in the end only slipped. “Hey mum, can I join the Gym Challenge?”

Things around here got always more confusing when the Gym Challenge was approaching. Hop had been watching all the news and reports online. Unfortunately, that meant for his brother no free time. He tried to call Leon many times, but with no success.  
He was wandering around route 1. Nervously. If Leon didn’t come soon, he won’t be able to participate in the Gym Challenge. And after making all the announcement, earlier, he had to join. He wanted to join in. Hop groaned in frustration. “What can we do?” He wondered. Looking at wooloo for answers but obviously it had none. He thought about that girl. Earlier in the day. She claimed to be participating too. Did she have a way to do so? Most probably not. It was hard to find a way here.  
And as if it was meant to be, he spotted the same dark red hair in the distance. She was laying down on the side of Route 1. On the short grass field. Deep in thoughts.

Thara had been thinking about many ways she could get an endorsement. When she asked her mom earlier she was only surprised. Since Thara usually never showed interest. Her mother had taught her about pokémon training in depth. Ever since they came here. Before that she was well educated by her father and whenever she managed to meat him they would have some training sessions. So she was well enough prepared. But where to go now?

“Hey there.” 

Golden eyes blocked her vision all of a sudden. The other teen’s face dangerously close to her face. Out of reflex Thara jerked up. Crashing her forehead against his. Hard. Painful.  
Thara winced at the stinging pain. The other boy was curled up on the ground holding the reddened spot. “Ow.”  
“What the hell!” Thara cursed. “Where did ya come from?!” 

“I was just around, training” Hop said, finally standing back up. The pain was at least lessened by now. “You want to join the Gym Challenge, too right.”  
Ugh. He had been listening. Thara straightened herself up. The other boy was bigger than her. Not too much but she did have to look up to him. And one thing she needed to admit was that he looked nice. Cute.

“Yeah, that was sorta the plan.” It wasn’t. But there was no going back. This boy was bragging about being champion he for sure had a way to get endorsed and maybe get Thara one too. It was worth a shot. “Cool!” He balled his hands to fists. Excitedly looking at her. “That’s amazing, I didn’t know someone else would join in!”  
Thara shrugged. The boy in front of her was a little weird, he talked to her as if they were friends. Who knew each other for a while. Too open. Too simple. She thought.  
“That’ll be great! We could go on a journey together! Me and, um…” He stopped and made a thinking face. “Wait mate! What’s your name?”  
“Thara”

“Me and Thara will be Postwick’s new hope!”

Thara wasn’t thinking about Postwick at all, but if that’s what he thought. No problem. To think about it, he hadn’t introduced himself yet “And you are?”  
Th boy in question gave her a confused stare. As if she was weird asking that. Was she supposed to know him? But then the boy started giggling. “The name is Hop! But you can call me future Champion of Galar!”

There it was again, his overly confident attitude. Thara was amused. “With that weird name?” She couldn’t resist teasing him. “Hey, I like my name!” He wasn’t offended at all and both had laughed for a second. He was fun to be honest. “Well good luck with your goals! But I’ll be champion.”  
Thara didn’t know what came over her or why she would even think of that but now she had said it. She had the habit of running her mouth especially when she was not supposed. And him declaring to be champion triggered that now. Why not? She already told him that she would join the challenge. It would only be stupid if she stayed quiet right? She needed to impress others.  
But Hop started laughing. So much that he had to hold his stomach. And Thara was close to kicking him in the face. “What’s so funny?”  
“Nothing.” He replied, wiping off a small tear that had build in his eye. “Nice confidence mate. But I am afraid that won’t be easy. He is the ‘unbeatable’ Champion.”  
“You were bragging earlier!” A vein popped in her. 

“To another topic! You think he’s cool too right!”

“That’s the same topic.” She sighed exasperatedly. “Well yes, he is fine.”  
“Fine?” Hop repeated dramatically. “He is the best! The coolest!”  
“You seem to be his greatest fan.” He looked at her surprised. And again a confused stare followed after. And once he processed her words he started smiling brightly. Proudly. “Well I guess I am my bro’s biggest fan.”

Thara’s eyes widened. “You’re his brother?!” Hop nodded. “Man how long do you live here?” He asked mockingly. 

“I am not too active around here ok!” 

Hop crossed his arms. “Man usually people know who I am. Guess it’s not because of my looks then.” He addressed his wooloo. Running his hands through its wool. “Cool, now we need to get endorsed.”  
Thara’s eyes were fixed on him. She was rubbing her ear wondering if she had something covering them. “Did I hear right?” She walked up to Hop. “You don’t have one?!” He shrugged. “You neither.”  
“Of course not! But you were already bragging about becoming champion!” She grabbed him by his collar and shook him. Hop yanked himself out of her grip. “Calm down mate.” He held his hands in front of him to shield himself. “Champion Leon is my brother, remember.” 

“So your bro is gonna give us one.” 

Hop nodded. “Once he can find some time to come. That is.” He started pacing back and forth. “If he can make some time.”

Thara now crossed her arms. This was getting worse and worse. “And when will that be?”

Hop smiled sheepishly. “Not for the next two month” He backed up just in case Thara was about to break out in anger. And she did. “HOW the fuck! Are we going to get endorsed Hop?!!”  
Hop put his hands on both her shoulders. Pushing the girl back a bit. And keeping her in check. “Don’t worry. There's time. Until then we can train and become better. He’ll endorse us for sure!”  
Thara sighed. Serenity now, she murmured. Calm down. At least he could guarantee her that she’ll get it. It will be incredibly embarrassing if she ended up not going there.  
“Come on! Let’s go! Have some training!” Hop smiled brightly at her. He was by far the nicest guy she had met and a fun one at that too. Maybe sometimes it was not a bad idea to hang around with someone else.  
This was at least a good starting point.


	2. a little glimpse of hope

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter. I can't guarantee quick updates like this all the time but I need to get the pre-canon stuff out of the way. Basically I am trying to give you an idea how Hop and Thara interact with each other and stuff. The pacing might seem a little slow, but I promise we'll get there^^  
> If anyone would be interested, I am sketching this story once in a while and might post them online. Once they are good enough, so if anyone would be interested I could give you my Insta account.

Hop had no friends at all. 

Which is a realization that hit Thara. He was quite talkative. He was active and outgoing. He was nice and polite. Always happy to help and he did help a lot. Many adults in town would ask him to help them in different chores of them. 

Naturally someone like him would be popular. No?

But he wasn’t which was a surprise to Thara. Until she knew him better.  
Indeed, he was active but way too active. He ran around a lot and did a lot of things. In fact, he was giving her a hard time tagging along with him. He was impatient and always jumping headfirst into anything that got on his mind. He talked a lot. And loud. Sometimes she needed to remind him that she was sitting right next to him. He would only sheepishly laugh and apologize. Sometimes he seemed to be scared that she might have just ditched him but Thara wasn’t that mean. 

Another big thing was Leon. He talked nonstop about him. How amazing he was. How strong he was. How unbeatable he was. And believe her when she says a lot. There was nearly no end to it. Which was annoying but she didn’t say anything. 

If you want to make friends, there needed to be some sacrifices. And she was sacrificing her sanity. Especially when he came over and showed her all the recordings of his battles. From new ones to very old ones. 

There were a lot. No joking. Leon was champion for 10 years now. Which is the reason he was the first to be called the ‘unbeatable’. And ten years of film footage was not gone through in just a few days. 

Another annoying thing was her mother. She still remembered the first day she brought Hop home and introduced him to her. Hop was a little surprised seeing them together. Thara didn’t look too much like her mom. The lady had brown hair and lighter brown eyes, wore glasses and had light skin. Rather paler skin. Plus she looked rather young for a mother of a 16 year old girl.

Her mom was shocked. To say the least. “I am Hop. Nice to meet you, mam.” He greeted her politely. The lady laughed delightfully, “Oh it’s a pleasure. I didn’t expect my girl to have a boyfriend so soon.”

Both teenagers looked at her in shock. And at each other. Their faces flushing a deep red color. “We’re not dating!” They shouted in unison. “We became just friends!”  
Her mom was laughing. “I see, sorry.”

Thara covered her face in embarrassment. How could her mom do something like that to her? She should have expected it since she brought a boy home. But still. How could she expect her daughter to date someone, she had only just met?

After a long explanation on how they met and befriended and a revelation who Hop was to Leon they could settle down and started chatting. Her mother was interrupting them a lot by offering Hop nearly anything edible in the house. Most of Thara’s snacks she stored away for herself. Which made her angry but whatever.

That was how she was going to spend the next months. They would go out and train their pokémon. He was surprisingly fascinated by budew and asking lots of questions about it. He helped her get a good training plan ready for the little grass type pokémon and suggested her which pokémon she should use it against. To get most out of the training. He had specific ways to train wooloo and care for it. Thara too got some ideas how to care for her own one.  
She even added a rookidee to have more pokémon in her team. She was also excited to one day have a corviknight. Hop however had even for that specific ideas and didn’t add anything to his team. There was one Yamper he found nearly starving to death and took it in. Other pokémon he caught were given to Professor Magnolia. She kept them near her home. They were to provide her granddaughter some useful information on pokémon behavior and natural habitat. 

One day Hop introduced her to said professor. An elderly woman. Wearing her white coat. She was friendly, just like an average grandmother and she certainly was one to Hop. She too had made an assumption that the teenagers were dating. Being skeptical because of Hop’s age. In her eyes they both were still young for that kind of thing. Hop had to clarify yet again that they befriended to go take the Gym Challenge together. Man, what a mess.  
After that day they spent most time training there. Professor Magnolia was able to provide them with a lot of useful information and gave them books to read. She watched them train and gave suggestions on how to do their work better. 

To the point that Hop and Thara were ready to challenge each other to battles. Well, mainly Hop was the one to do so. Thara just wanted to be good enough that she can be called a decent trainer and not like Hop be the best.

He wanted to be better than her and most battles he did win. Maybe he was just that good, maybe it was just because she didn’t really care. Hop tried to get her into fighting more so she would give her best, but Thara could be surprisingly lazy about that. until he started provoking her. When angry she did give more efforts into battling than normal.  
And soon after they would watch yet another battle of Leon. Groan! Thara had a hard time tagging along with him. but the months flew by like nothing. The deadline was approaching soon, and Hop had no answer when Leon would come. No hope at all.

_Until the odds wanted to be in their favor._

Hop was sitting in his room. Rolling around in his chair, computer screen on and right now video chatting with his older brother. They video chat as much as they could since Leon had not much time to come home and spend with him. lately he had been too busy to even call his younger brother. 

“So how have you been my dear brother.” Leon asked. He was seemingly sitting in a lobby or the living room of his apartment. Hop couldn’t really tell but he was not wearing his usual costume he would be seen all the time. Hop leant back in his chair bending both arms behind his head. “Hm pretty fine, trying to get a nice Team together.” 

Leon laughed. Talking about Pokémon was the most common thing about them. He knew Hop was now around the age that he would start doing pokémon training properly. He enjoyed listening to his younger brother’s ideas as to what he wanted to train and why he would have certain pokémon in his team. 

And then a lot often Hop would tell Leon how amazing his fights were and pointing out the best parts. Lately there weren’t many fights for Leon though. He was being interviewed a lot and helped with preparations. That was nice but not in Hop’s interest. He rolled his chair closer to the screen. “To another topic Lee. Will you finally endorse me? It’s about time for the gym challenge.”

Leon sighed exasperated. In the past weeks he kept asking this question again and again. “Hop, we talked about this, and my answer is still the same.” Yes, he was old enough to start becoming an actual trainer but in Leon’s eyes that was not enough to officially endorse the young teen.

“Aw, come on now Lee!” Hop was a determined kid though. Leon knew it would be hard to talk him out of it. “Just stop there, I wanted to tell you something” Hop turned his head away offended but still looked at Leon from the corner of his eyes, pouting. “I have managed to get some free time. I will be coming in around a week. And I will bring a present too.” 

Hop widened his eyes and immediately jumped off his seat. “Really?!” Leon nodded. Filling Hop with excitement. It had been so long since he saw him the last time in person. Leon laughed. “Calm down.” A voice from behind the screen called out to Leon saying that he needed to go. He nodded. “What is the present?” Hop asked curiously. “If I tell you now it won’t be a surprise.” He laughed, “since I could not give you any present for your birthday this year, I will make up for it. And maybe bring a present for your girlfriend too.” 

At the mention of ‘girlfriend’ Hop’s face turned red. Facing the computer. “She is not my girlfriend!” He yelled at the screen. Leon gave him a smug look. “Really?”. He didn’t believe him one bit. “Thara and I are planning to be trainers and preparing for that. She is just a friend!”. Hop leant back into his chair. As cool as his brother was sometimes, he just liked to embarrass him too much. It was not only Leon though, his family in general had a wrong idea about their friendship. Mainly because him befriending with Thara came sudden. Why was everyone concluding only one thing?

“Anyway, I need to go. Make sure to let everyone in house know.” Said Leon. Hop nodded quickly and then the screen went black. He shut off his computer. After a deep breath he started grinning like crazy again. “Aw man, he is finally coming!” He said to himself, or perhaps wooloo. Sometimes the small thing was so quite he tend to forget that it was there.  
Then he franticly run around his room searching for things he could show his brother. There were many notes Hop did in the past month that he could show off. They were about wild pokémon they met, rookidee, nickit, yamper and many more. He also did some notes on Thara’s budew. 

Also, a bunch of different notes on how to train Wooloo and what other Pokémon he would be having. He wanted to show this all to Leon when he finally came here. Show him how serious he was about the Gym Challenge and show him that he was ready. That Hop was a good trainer. So, he placed all of them on his desk where he could find them easily.

Then he took out a big poster. Starring Leon in an action shot on the pitch from a dramatic worm’s eye view. The stadium blurry in the background and his ever so trusting Charizard behind him. It was new merch of him that was being sold in preparations for the next Champion’s cup. Hop had to buy it. He looked at his wall trying to figure out where to put it. His wooloo seemingly judging his purchase. 

He realized when looking at it. And laughed. “Don’t worry. I am not that obsessed” he tried to reassure, “but I have bought different merch of gym leaders and their g-max Pokémon. He will be offended if I don’t put this up.”

He looked at the spot above his bed. Covered in three big posters of a G-max Gengar, Charizard and Machamp. “Well I do have that Charizard poster, but still. He’ll be offended.” His wooloo stopped paying further attention, maybe it understood his reasoning. Most probably not and just didn’t care anymore. He then suddenly had a thought. “I need to tell this Thara!” the boy said to his wooly Pokémon, startling it with the volume of his voice, before sprinting to his cupboard to grab a jacket. He put on socks and quickly ran downstairs. Wooloo putting in its best efforts to follow him. 

His family was gathered in the kitchen chatting. “Mom, you should start preparing” Hop shouted through the house, “Lee is coming in a week from now!” They were just as excited to hear the news. “Really?” His mom wanted to be assured and Hop nodded. “We just now chatted. He’ll have some free time.” He ran to the front door, “I am going to Thara’s!” He shouted before leaving the house. His mom couldn’t contain her excitement as well. Already wondering what to cook and making a mental note to clean Leon’s room. They always prepared for Leon’s arrival as early as possible.

Thara wasn’t living too far, it was just a 2 minutes’ walk or in Hop’s case a quick run. He always ran and, ever since he knew Thara, challenged her to races a lot. Which the girl did not necessarily like. She was a rather lazy person. 

Hop was ringing the bell. No answer. He was ringing again. Still no answer. “I know you are laying on the couch and watching TV!” He shouted, “Thara you can’t be that lazy! Open the door!” 

Thara grunted. Hop came over enough to know a lot of her habits. And she never really went outside unless Hop dragged her along so it wasn’t hard to know what she might be doing. The girl looked at the door. She could see it from there, yet the walk was still to long for her liking. Her mom finally came out of her room. Shaking her head when seeing her daughter refusing to stand up. “Seriously, Thara” she said while walking up to the door, “There is a limit of being lazy.” She opened the door. “Oh, Hop dear I am awfully sorry for my daughters behavior.” Hop shook his head, “No worries, I know how she is.” 

She invited him in leading him into the living room. She nudged her daughter, “Sit up straight. You were already rude enough!” She whispered. “I’ll be getting you snacks and something to drink.” The brown-haired lady walked away looking back at her daughter real quick. Making suggestive hints. Thara sighed.

Ever since she mistook their relationship her mother was still not over the topic. They may not be dating but could end up doing just that. It didn’t help that she liked Hop a lot. So sometimes she would try to give her suggestions to how she will have a boyfriend. Thara only rolled her eyes. Luckily she did nothing embarrassing in front of Hop.

“I have good news!” Hop announced. “Lee will be here in a week!”  
Now that were some news. Thara smiled widely. “Really?” Hop nodded.  
Good indeed. Thara had grown nervous and fearing they might not end up participating. And that would have been humiliating. But now hope was rising again.  
Hop was nearly jumping around. Excitedly. He was always full of energy but never had Thara seen him this much. “I can’t wait! Haven’t seen him in a while.” 

Watching him was like watching a little kid. That was about to get some presents. His admiration for Leon was big and at times very annoying but Hop was indeed cute. Very cute. Sometimes Thara ended up staring and smiling at him. For too long. “And you get to know the unbeatable Champion personally!” He looked at Thara expecting her to share his joy. She coughed a bit, trying to hide a blush. Luckily, he did not notice. “Yeah, exciting.” She said with little effort to sound true. Hop rose a brow. 

As much as he liked hanging up with her sometimes, she was a bit of work. Why wouldn’t she be a fan of his brother too? 

But that was something he also appreciated. Thara was the first person to not see him as champion Leon’s younger brother. Well she didn’t even know about that. She didn’t try to take advantage of that and only befriend him for that matter. Like other teens around here tried to do. Which was partly the reason he had no friends. 

Hop walked up to her slinging an arm around her shoulder and her heart skipped a beat. Really, she should learn to control that. “Soon! You and I will be traveling through Galar! Imagine mate!”

Yes, Thara thought. That was a pleasant view. She always wanted to travel. Thara always liked the idea of traveling and exploring. It was one of the good things of being a trainer. One that might be a future plan of hers. And traveling with Hop? Even better. 

But then Hop said one thing, that made her boil in anger. “Now we only need to convince him to endorse us.” He expected her reaction and grabbed a nearby pillow as a shield. Thara had the shortest temper he had even seen in any person. And most dangerous actions. Her eyes could literally murder him.

“You said we will get endorsed for sure!” She tried to come closer but Hop backed up. Trying to escape around the couch. Carefully studying her movement and moving into the other direction. Thara would kill him if he got caught. “The fucking challenge starts soon Hop!!”  
“Hear me out!” He held a hand up trying to stop her. She did but would only give him a few seconds to explain himself. “I can convince him, for sure…” He had to make a few steps back as Thara was again ready to attack him. “We’ll show him our skills as trainers and then he’ll have to endorse us.”

“Why wouldn’t he just give us without the trouble.”

“Okay now, that would be cheating.”

He now had to run to the other side of the living room still holding on to the pillow. 

“Who cares! No one needs to know.” 

Hop threw the pillow into her face. “Na! He cannot make exceptions. We’ll prove him that we’re good enough. That won’t be hard.” 

The pillow hit his face. “Fine! But if that won’t work Hop, I am going to fucking murder you!” Hop gulped. Now another reason to definitely get the stupid endorsement. He left out the information that Leon just didn’t see him ready. As in not old enough yet. Knowing she will only be in worse condition. He needed to survive until his brother arrived. 

But she seemed to calm down a little bit. Enough so that Hop could carefully approach her. Still holding his hands out in defense. “I promise everything will be okay.” He carefully patted her shoulder. “Until then how about we go train.” 

Thara groaned. “Hop!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So basically I can't imagine Hop not starting off as a good trainer. Since he is definitely that kind of character that would go train whenever having the chance to and dragging Thara along. (Obviously Game-logic would make any character weak compared to us).  
> This will be the end of the pre-canon stuff. I try my best to update quick.  
> Besides I really have a lot of ideas for this, maybe too much to put into one story so I will be preparing Spin-off chapters featuring others. Like Leon's generation. Once I have prepared enough I will start on that too.
> 
> I really hope you enjoyed reading this chapter.


	3. Struggle of the endorsement

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hop and Thara have to work hard to convince Leon to endorse them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I am not feeling too well for the past days so working on this is a little hard.  
> From here we're finished with pre-canon stuff.  
> Leon might be too worrisome in here, but that is the point. The Gym Challenge is hard and dangerous and he has gone through that himself. Plus he was canonically too worried to endorse him too. I just took a bit farther here.

Finally, the day Hop and Thara had been waiting for was here. Champion Leon’s arrival.

Hop darted down the stairs. Picked out his shoes and threw his jacket over. His mom made a break from cooking and took a look at him. “Oh my, calm down Hop” she said, “your brother will be here soon. Be patient for once.”  
He shook his head. “No can do, there’ll be a huge crowd gathered around him and then he will take forever to come.” His cloths now all neat he looked at his mom. “And besides Lee isn’t good at directions. He’ll never find home.” 

“Oh, come on dear, your brother should manage to come to his own home.” His mom replied but Hop looked at her. His eyes saying, ‘are you serious?’  
The elder lady started to avert her eyes. “you know what, you should really go.” Hop grinned brightly and ran out. The train station was next town just down the road. The walk over there wasn’t long and since Hop made a race every time, he could, it was even shorter. But before heading there he ran up hill to pick up Thara.  
Said girl was sitting ready on her couch. Rubbing her sleepy eyes. Last night Hop messaged her to be ready to pick Leon up and so she did. Though the young girl was not pleased to do so. She would prefer to stay in bed and sleep more. Why did they need to be up so early? Leon would be at home anyway so she could meet him then. Hop’s impatience was at times too annoying. Hop wanted to be the early one to greet him though. 

“Thara! Come out, we need to go!” Hop shouted through the door. Thara sighed, “Here we go again.” She grabbed the old bag her mum gave her and made her way out. When she opened the door, Hop was pacing up and down impatiently. Thara rolled her eyes. “I get it that you are so excited but really don’t make a big thing about it” She closed the door behind her and walked next to Hop. Her mum was not home to get some groceries, so she sent her a message to notify her. “I know but I am just so excited!”  
When leaving her gateway, they noticed a wooloo tackling the side fence. Catching their attention. “Oi, whatcha doing there little one?” Hop asked, “you know passing this fence is off limits. So, stop trying.” The wild Pokémon looked at him for a moment but then proceeded to keep tackling the fence. Hop sighed. “Well whatever. That shouldn’t be a problem anyway” He turned back to Thara, “Let’s just keep going.” 

While continuing their walk Thara kept looking behind at that wooloo. Wondering what was past the fence. Hop noticed her stare. “The Slumbering Weald is totally off limits. No one is allowed to go there.” He explained. “Why so?” The redhead couldn’t resist her curiosity. “I heard that back then in the days every here and then some people would go into the woods for certain purposes and ended up never returning. Some say wild Pokémon got them others say they might have gotten lost and starved to death.” He turned around and kept walking backwards still in front of Thara. “There is seemingly thick fog that’ll devour you!” 

He tried to make the story sound creepy and it actually did. Thara however wasn’t too convinced. “Oh, please. Sounds more like a made-up story to keep people away from there.” She replied, “why is it only a simple fence to stop people? Shouldn’t they come up with something more secure?” Hop turned around again to walk straight up. “well it is common sense here not to go there so nothing more is needed.” Thara wanted to talk more about it but Hop suddenly started running. “Let’s see who is first at the station!” he shouted. Thara made an annoyed sound. “It’s not fair if you start running before-hand!”

It took them a little more than five minutes to reach the train station and there was already a huge crowd gathered to welcome their champ. Hop dropped his shoulders disappointingly. “Oh, man! There are already so many people here.” Thara patted his back in an attempt to cheer him up. Leon wasn’t here yet, but it would not take long. People here were ready with banners and posters.  
And then their voices got louder and louder. Cheering happily. Hop’s head shot up. He tried his best to take a look at the front doors which was hard with so many people in his way.  
Wide golden eyes were fixated to the entrance of the train station all in wait of seeing his dear older brother. It was finally time and Champion Leon stepped out and in front of them. Greeting his fans and pulling off his ever so famous Charizard Pose. It was his signature pose that he mostly did when he won his fights and get his fans all fired up. The cheering got louder when pulling the pose. “Welcome back Leon!” They shouted. “we saw your match! You were awesome!” Leon grinned brightly. Looking exactly like Hop’s bright grin. 

“Thank you very much” Leon said, “I appreciate your nice welcome. And don’t forget to keep your own work up and be fantastic trainers in the future.” That was the typical speech for Leon. He wanted to encourage his hometowns to become trainers as well. Mostly people would claim to do as he taught them but most of them never did. It didn’t help that Leon was just a big talent and they never expected to be even half as good. Never expected to get a chance. “Yeah! We try to put your teachings into action. But we will never be as good as you or have a strong Pokémon like your Charizard!” Thara rolled her eyes. She never saw anyone trying. Only complaining. 

Leon still smiled. “Yes, that is true that we are strong and unbeatable. But we worked hard to get there. And you can do that too.” The people around him agreed. They would at least try so too. Now that Leon was looking at all the people in front of him his eyes caught glimpse of purple hair in the back. “Oh, well what do I see here” he commented. Proceeding to walk ahead his fans respectfully stepped aside. “Seems like my number one fan in the whole world came all the way to pick me up.” He hugged Hop tightly really showing how much he missed his younger brother. After giving the smaller one a good squeeze Hop took a step back. “Of course, I came, Lee. You’re horrible with directions.” Leon laughed. “Just a little bit.”

 _Horrible with direction_ Thara repeated in her mind. A little confused. _Wait! Is that why we picked him up? He wouldn’t even find his own home? And someone like is our champion._  
Thara observed the two. Now being in front of her she did notice that they looked alike. Their hair color and eye color were the same. Both with dark skin. Their smiles everything looked just so alike. She felt stupid not to notice that before. Then Leon suddenly looked at here. “And you must be Thara, right?” She nodded. “Hop told me a lot about you” Thara felt the heat rise in her cheeks. “We are both practicing becoming trainers” said Hop. “I see.” Leon smiled at them. His face was a little weird and he beamed at Hop. Who grew nervous. As if his brother was about to say something uncomfortable and Thara could only wonder what this all was about. “Anyway! let’s go home!” Hop suggested all of a sudden and started running a head. “Let’s see who is first at home!” Leon shook his head, “That Hop always making a race out of everything” He ran after the boy. Thara sighed. They are truly alike.

Hop reached first and waited in his family’s garden. Leon was only shortly behind him. Thara was a little bit later at the scene. She didn’t bother running after them. This early at the day she just had not the energy to. They were waiting. Hop giving her an annoyed look. She replied by sticking out her tongue at him.  
“Now that you’re both here, I guess it is time.” He revealed three pokeballs from under his cape. Throwing them to the side in order to reveal the Pokémon inside. There was this cheerful bunny one, mostly white in color with long ears. that were orange at the upper half and some yellow color. This might suggest it to be a fire type. A green one with dark brown ears and lighter brown snout and paws. with a stick. It resembled an ape. That must be a grass type for sure. And the last one small and frightened. A blue chameleon. Water type. All of them sprinted around. 

The water type jumping into the small pond. The grass type climbing up the tree above it and the fire type was having his fun in the open. But the water type accidentally spit water onto him, making the bunny jump around and hitting its head hard against the tree branch. Where the grass type was sitting. It was playing with fruit until then which fell down into the pond and startled the water type. Making it jump out of the water and cry. The fire type stood next to it finally calming down while the grass type was calming down the crying one.  
Both Hop and Thara watched in awe. They wouldn’t have guessed this. “Alright, line up everyone!” Leon called and all three Pokémon lined up in front of the two teenagers. “So, then you two. This is an important step in becoming trainers. Choose which one you’ll take.”

Both teenagers exchanged surprised looks. But Hop smiled at the girl next to him. “Well then, you choose first.” He gestured to the Pokémon and took a step back. Thara was trying to process what was happening. She stepped forward. Looking at Hop just to be sure that he really meant it. The boy nodded. Thara observed the three creatures in front of her clearly. What type would fit her best? Would her choice influence Hop’s choice? Is there a wrong turn? It was quite the pressure. She was thinking. But she needed to choose quickly. The two brothers were watching. Waiting.  
“I think, I’ll choose you!” She walked in front of the water type one. Claiming it for herself. She wouldn’t mention that the little cry scene got her though. “So, you choose Sobble, the water type?” Leon asked just to be sure she really wanted it. Sobble, huh? She held her hand out and the Pokémon did not waste a second to jump up and give her the cutest high five with its small mitten like feet. “I guess this is a yes” Leon commented smiling brightly. He looked at Hop. “And what about you?” The purple haired boy walked towards the bunny. Not hesitating for a minute. “I’ll go with this one!” He said and fist bumped him. “The fire type Scorbunny it is, then huh?”

Thara was surprised about Hop’s decision. She’d expected him to take the one that will be in type advantage against hers. She would ask him later. The one left behind was looking around realizing that there is no one to take him with. Which was sad to look at. Leon however walked up to it. “You little bud will come with me.” He called it back into its ball and handed the ones belonging to the other two Pokémon to their newfound trainers. “Okay so let’s see what you can pull off” Leon suggested. Both Thara and Hop looked at their newly received Pokémon. “what you say?” asked Thara. She noticed Hop being a little too quiet. He kept looking at his ball. He was being weirdly unsure. 

“Well why not!” He said. He got a good distance in between them ready to throw his ball. Thara, albeit not really sure if he should do it, readied herself. Her Sobble didn’t seem too sure but got the spirit kicking when she called out to him. Scorbunny on the other hand was all fired up. “Let’s do this!” She ordered her Pokémon to tackle. It hit hard. The bunny wasn’t down by that. Hop however wasn’t really into it.  
At this point attacking back with an offensive move would be a good idea but instead he made him decrease Sobble’s attack. Thara was confused. Hop usually goes for a critical hit. Though at this early stage the Pokémon couldn’t use many moves. So, she settled on tackling again. This time with more force than before and then again. Hop never reacted fast enough. He got more flustered and when he managed to get an order out Thara was faster to react than him. Eventually one last tackle made Scorbunny fall into the pond. Hop rushed to the water and picked his partner out. Who was unable to keep fighting.

Thara felt sorry for that, she didn't plan on throwing Scorbunny into the water. But at the same time it was her first victory against Hop. Unfortunately, he lost in front of his brother. Who was looking just the slightest bit skeptical. “Well that was fine for your first real battle.” He praised, “But there is one more thing you’ll need before calling yourself trainers.” Hop was feeling down. Thara could tell and only focus on that. She hardly listened to the older one. “Down there in Wedgehurst is the lab of Professor Magnolia. You should head there soon to get a pokedex upgrade.” He pointed in a direction he thought was where they needed to go. “Lee, Wedgehurst is in the opposite direction.” Said Hop with a raised brow. What a luck that they know the way good enough and don’t need any guidance from their champion. “Oh, really?” Leon laughed not feeling embarrassed at all. “I thought I finally remembered.” 

He took a deep breath before addressing them again. “Well we need to visit Professor Magnolia’s house on Route 2 as well. So, let’s get the dex quickly you two.”  
His Charizard started leading the way. The two teenagers fell behind so they could have a talk. At least that was what Thara wanted. “So, what was that about?” Hop looked at her confused. He did not understand what she was saying. “Why were you so horrible just now?” She never held back with her usage of words. Hop flinched at the question. He hoped that his performance was not as bad as it was. But it was. He sighed. Dropping his shoulders. “I don’t know” he said, “it’s just. I wasn’t too sure when Lee was watching.” He put his face into his hands in frustration. “Oh man I messed up!” Thara put her hand on his shoulder. “Don’t worry, we can still convince him.” she said trying to cheer him up, “giving up is not your style now is it?” 

He inhaled deeply and straightened himself again. “Yeah right!” He stopped shortly since some idea seemed to have struck him. “I know! The Prof will convince him!” 

The lab wasn’t too far. Leon was waiting for them. Luckily his Charizard has a good sense of directions and led him there. Thara was wondering if they had to go find him. they fell behind quite a bit. Without even knocking the man entered once Thara and Hop caught up to him. The lab was big. Inside were all sorts of different scientific tools there. Different sketches of Pokémon and Projects lined up. There were stairs leading up to a library section. Never had Thara seen so many books in one place. She was amazed. The lab really looked stunning. She even started to get lost in it. Going around and looking at all the things inside. “Seems like some is in a lab for the first time.” Commented Leon amused.  
Suddenly they heard a bark. Looking into the direction it came from there was a small yellow Pokémon. It walked up to greet Leon. Who bent down to pat it. With his gloved hand. “Now there what a nice welcome” He said. 

“What do you want today Leon?” A lady’s voice called out from upstairs. Thara looked up and saw a rather young lady coming to the stairs and walking to them. She had orange hair. Wavy and bound to her side. She was pretty. Once she was down, she continued. “You always bug me about new never before seen Pokémon.”  
Leon didn’t avert his attention from the small Pokémon. “This is Yamper. Back then when I did my Gym Challenge, he helped me out a lot.” He said ignoring the lady. He stood up once having petted Yamper enough. “Oh, and this here, is Sonia. The Prof’s granddaughter.” He put a finger to his chin attempting to think, “What can I say about her. She cooks pretty well.”  
The lady wasn’t happy at her introduction. Throwing her hands up and into fists. “Excuse me?! What kind of intro is that?” She turned to Thara. “We were rivals at that time. And I helped you out a lot too. Not just Yamper!” Leon laughed sticking his tongue out on her. 

Thara was kind of having a rather negative view of the ever so famous Champion. He was not what she expected. She had seen him as serious person. Taking his duties serious and putting a lot of work into them. She thought he would be strict and more professional behaving. Instead she was faced with a man that wouldn’t even be able to find his own home without help and would not even be embarrassed about it. He was kind of a chill guy. Enjoying his time and making his jokes. Not necessarily good jokes. And his behavior here. What was he? A child? Now she was kind of questioning his intelligence. Just the slightest bit. Though he seemed to be an enjoyable brother to have around.  
She looked at Hop her face all asking if his brother is for real. He grinned and shrugged. That’s just how his brother was. “However, these two are here for a pokedex” He said. Going back to the topic. “Actually Lee” Hop took out his phone. “I have gotten one already. She gave me a Rotom like last month.” 

“Yes, and I couldn’t get one because she wasn’t here anymore, at the time, I wanted one.” Complained Thara. She never believed Hop’s excuse that Sonia was only for a short amount of time there and had to leave. He apparently had no time to invite her over. Thara accused him of being selfish. Selfish in a sense that he wanted to have a dex first and fill it up more than she could. Hop threw his hands up in a dramatic way. “Here we go again!” He moved his hands to his chest, very theatrical like, “I would never leave you out on anything. It was just bad luck.” Thara rolled her eyes.

Leon was amused. He looked at Sonia. Who gave him an amused smile back. These teenagers were oblivious weren’t they. And on top of that wondering why others mistook them for a couple.  
“Well then Lee I guess next up is the Prof’s house right.” Asked Hop just for confirmation. Leon nodded. “So, you are visiting gran too.” Wondered Sonia. Hop nodded. Behind Leon he made gestures. Gesturing her that he is still trying to convince him for the endorsement. The orange haired chuckled. She nods letting him know she would help. “Okay then I’ll head out to Route 2 then!” Shouted Hop and ran outside. Always in a hurry. Thara sighed. Leon shook his head. “Well then let’s get this done with and come along Thara.” The older one-bit Sonia goodbye for the day and followed Hop.  
Leaving Thara behind. “Man, these two are a hand full, aren’t they?” She smiled at Thara. Who returned it. “Yeah they’re definitely brothers. Both pretty dumb at times.” They both laughed. “Yeah that’s how they always had been. Though Hop is a sweetheart.” She walked over to her desk removing the pile of paper works and settling down a book she took from upstairs. “They visited us a lot some years back. Though Hop knew the way better than him.” She chuckled. Thara could pretty well imagine that. “can I have your phone?” 

Thara took her phone out and showed it. It was the newest models. She got it on her birthday. Sonia revealed a little red creature flying around. It slipped into Thara’s phone turning its color red. “With Rotom’s help it is easy to turn your phone into a dex.” She took the phone examining it and checking if everything went well. It did and she handed it back to the redhead. “So, all done.” Thara was impressed how fast it went and how convenient it is to be able to use your phone.  
Thara nodded and excused herself. “Yeah I guess I’ll be on my way then.” Sonia nodded approvingly. When leaving she waved at her. Sonia returned it saying one last thing. “It is nice to see that Hop has more interests than just being like his brother.” She winked at Thara. Said girl understood the implications but sighed. “If only...” She left the building.  
Route two was close. North to the town. Hop and Leon were gone. They will probably be waiting at the house. At the end of the path were stairways leading down to route 2. The path was surrounded by tall grass. Rookidees flying around. And all sorts of small Pokémon running. Thara made a mental note to avoid them. She really wanted to get everything done with.  
Swearing to kill Hop if they fail this time. He already screwed up.  
She saw him standing in front of Magnolia’s house. Obviously waiting for her. “So, what’s the plan now?”

“Are you in for a battle?!” He sounded determined and looked at her with serious eyes. “What?” Is all the girl could reply. She didn’t expect him to ask for a battle so soon. “Before I was too nervous but now, I feel better about it! Come one Thara let’s do this! We’ll prove Lee that we can do it!”  
Thara grinned, liking his competitive side. She might not be as obsessed with all this stuff as Hop, but she surely would never turn down a challenge. “You’re on!” They both rushed to the front yard of the house. The elder lady was right now talking to Leon. About the Dynamax phenomenon. “Hi there, Prof!” Hop greeted her ever so nicely. Thara waved. “Oh my, where are my manners. I haven’t even greeted out guessed.” 

Leon noticed how Hop had his Pokeball ready in his hands and so did Thara. “Hop, are you still going to bug me about the endorsement?” He asked exasperated. Hop too now had enough of this. “Oh come on Lee! I really want to join the Champion’s Cup” 

“You are not ready!” replied Leon in a strict tone. 

He quickly tried to escape the situation by going inside the building. Professor Magnolia watched the older one walk inside her house and then looked at Hop. Who made a whiny face, pointing to Leon. She understood him. He asked her to convince him. She nodded and held her hand up. Telling him to stay calm. She followed Leon.  
Both Thara and Hop waiting outside. The redhead did not fully understand Leon though. Yes, Hop messed up earlier, but he was a good trainer. He was strong and eager to win. He was ready for the challenge. Why wouldn’t his brother realize this. It was only common for Hop to try the Challenge too. And furthermore, why is Leon the one to decide for Hop something his parents should be. This family had her confused.

Inside Leon paced back and forth in the kitchen. He expected Hop to bug him about the challenge, but the young boy was taking it too far. Why would he not understand that Leon did not want him to go yet? Professor Magnolia however understood his behavior clearly. “It is hard to accept it when they grow up right?” Leon is taken aback by her sudden voice only able to mutter out a confused ‘huh’. She walked over to the tall man. 

“I remember when you were younger and visited a lot.” She said in a nostalgic voice. “You would come here with little Hop with you and spend the day here. Researching about pokémon and playing around with ones we had here. Hop would be excited over the smallest of things. Taking candies. And always shouting Lee is awesome.”  
Leon smiled at the memory.

“And that Hop is finally growing up and able to take care of himself. I know it is hard to believe” she continued, “it felt like he was a small child only yesterday.”  
Leon started feeling uncomfortable. He knew where this was leading to. “Oh, has he gotten you on this too.” He walked away. “I really don’t think that he is ready.” The professor sighed. “You need to stop worrying so much. Hop is old enough.” She walked up to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. Looking outside to Hop and Thara. Leon followed her gaze. “Look at him.”  
Leon didn’t want to. Hop was pouting. And he didn’t like that. It was always Hop’s pouting face that got him weak and give in. He spoiled his brother that way. “He wants to join the challenge so bad. What’s wrong about it.” “It can be dangerous!” replied Leon almost instantly. “I will be worried. I can’t possibly allow Hop such a thing yet. And neither Thara!”  
Understandable. He did it himself so he had a good idea how dangerous it can be. “Hop is 16” said Professor Magnolia, “he is old enough. Sometimes you need to let go so they can learn to be independent.” She waited for Leon to say something but when he stayed silent, she continued. “You need to give him the chance to prove himself. Hop will be happy if you do so. By the way you want Galar to be full of strong trainer, right?”

Now he started giving the idea some thoughts. “Yeah fair point. But still.” He stared outside. Of course, he wanted Hop to be happy but at the same time it was kind of hard. Hard to accept that he did not need to take too much care of him. That Hop can take care of himself. Maybe Professor Magnolia was right. Maybe he should give him a chance. He took a deep breath. “Oh man….” He couldn’t believe what he was going to do next. He glanced one more time to the elder lady. Who gave him a reassuring nod.  
He proceeded to walk outside meeting Hop’s hopeful eyes. And Thara’s curious ones. He was quiet for a bit. Making the other two nervous over what is coming next. “Okay Hop” he started, “I give the both of you one more chance. Let’s have another battle.”

Hop jumped in excitement and readied himself. Thara smiled. She liked him this way a lot and battling him like this was so much more enjoyable. She takes her place too. “A one on one again?” She asked to make things clear. Hop looked at Leon. “Yes, a one on one will be good enough.”  
That was set now. Hop felt his wooloo rub against his leg. He let it out of its ball while waiting for Leon. It wanted to battle and support him. Hop gave him an apologetic smile and petted it. “I know buddy. But sorry. I need to do it with the one Lee gave me.” He held out the ball Scorbunny was in. Wooloo was not happy to hear that. Nonetheless it backed off and let the newcomer do its thing. “Here I go!” Hop shouted and released Scorbunny. 

“I am not gonna give you an easy time!” Shouted Thara before releasing Sobble. After the last match they were a little stronger. Sobble had learned a water type move already which would give her an advantage. But knowing Hop, he definitely had trained Scorbunny while waiting for her. He never sits around doing nothing. “Water-pulse!”  
Hop was surprised to hear that. But he still could react good enough to order his Pokémon to dodge swinging his arm to the right. Which is the side Scorbunny jumped to. Then it tackled the opponent. Scorbunny had more power than Sobble. Which was bad for Thara. Especially when her attacks keep missing. She tried to decrease its offense but scorbunny was quick to jump around and out of reach. Energy loaded and fast. It also seemed to be impatiently waiting for more orders. Somehow Thara had the feeling to be facing a Pokémon version of Hop himself. That thing really fitted well with him.  
One more tackle hit Sobble which snapped her out of her thoughts. Now is not the time to be thinking about him. It was time to be crushing him. Thara never thirsted for victory too much. She never minded her lost battles against Hop in the past months. But now something inside her went on fire. Something inside her wanted to win. And not accept loss. Scorbunny was finally in reach. “Again Water-pulse!” This time it hit. Yes! 

Hop was taken aback, but nothing was over yet. Scorbunny was not out yet. Hurt and weakened yet still as strong standing as before. It made Hop smile. Yes, that was the excitement of a real battle. It was different from earlier battles. And it felt good. He always knew that Thara was a good trainer if only she would try harder. Now she was and it was a blast. However, he did not plan on loosing again. Not in front of Leon.

“Come on Score! Let’s do this! Jump around Sobble as fast as you can!” His order was weird. Not an attack in particular but once his bunny did what he ordered to. Thara understood his method. The jumping around caused her Pokémon too much confusion. It tried to hit with his water but would not be able to. Scorbunny was fast and jumping with surprisingly strong force. It should be weakened! Thara was stressed. She had no idea what to do. Her sobble was near tears. Which wasn’t helping. On the other hand, Scorbunny enjoyed it.  
It was genuinely having fun jumping around in that way. Hop made his Pokémon enjoy the battle. Which was a trait not too often seen. The girl stared in awe. “Now take it down!” Ordered Hop and with one last landing Scorbunny loaded the energy to make a strong jump. Which Thara couldn’t take. She needed to counter now. By the time she made him use Water-pulse again it was too late. Sobble was not fast enough and hit by the force of the jump so hard it couldn’t get back up. 

Hop won.

He was cheering loudly and scorbunny jumped into his arms. He hugged it tightly and praised it well enough. Thara was disappointed for the first time over a loss. Nonetheless she went to pick her sobble up. Hurt and down. It cried in her arms feeling sorry for the loss. Aw. That was reason she took him. he was so cute. She gave his head a pet and squeezed him tightly. “No worries. You were awesome. I messed up.” She managed to smile at him. Then at Hop. Who grinned brightly back at her. It was genuine.  
Not the usual ‘yeah I beat you’ bragging one.

They were taken out of the moment by Leon applauding them. “Very well done!” He praised him. excitement overflowing him. “Me and Charizard enjoyed it a lot. I was nearly joining your fight.” He stepped closer to the younger trainers. Looking at Thara first. “Very well. Thara. You are observant and using type advantage well enough. And are able to adapt. Get that ability up and you’ll be a fierce trainer.” She felt her cheeks warm up. Never had Thara received such a compliment. Hop always told her that she should try harder and she’ll be good. She never thought that though but now thinking about it. He was right. 

Leon then turned to look at his younger brother. “Scrobunny enjoyed the match a lot. And you were able to reach victory while in disadvantage. You were amazing Hop. I really like that style of fighting.”  
Hop’s heart raced. He felt happy. Happy that his brother praised him. His idol. The one he admired the most. Being praised by him felt so different than when others in town would do so. It felt so much more believable. But furthermore, there was one thing Hop was dying to her. “Does this mean...” He let his question off there. Leon was supposed to finish it by answering. He was silent for a moment. Looking to the ground. Not believing that the time has come. After what felt like an eternity looked back up to the trainers. 

“Yes. I will endorse the two of you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A few things that I had thought of. Like I already mentioned it is hard to believe that Hop is a bad trainer, since he is obsessing over his goal he should be having quite some experience. It is just important to know what is game logic and what should be. Which is why it is amazingly annoying to me how many people see him as a bad trainer. Both Bede and Marnie weren't any different in terms of battling or their levels. (And his 'oh you know your type match-ups' is clearly thrown in to address young kids that are playing for their first time. Yeah making him talk about them in each battle was unnecessary, but hey even Leon talks about them in when we battle him, so obviously Hop picked it up from him.)  
> On Hop's league card it is described that he has a lot of knowledge but it gets wasted since Hop is gets flustered easily. And on his second one it is described that he has a special style of fighting in which his pokemon enjoy their time.  
> I try to pick up the pacing, but there were just so many ideas I had for these parts and the following ones that it takes a little longer to get through.


	4. A fateful encounter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's time to prepare for the upcoming journey, and both families have their worries to let out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, I took so long to update this story. I was very busy in the past weeks. I am very very sorry. But now that I have the tome again, I'll try my best to update regularly, so don't worry.  
> The pacing is still slow, but I really thought that a little focus on the families thoughts and behavior is important too, since the children are going on a dangerous journey and will be gone for at least a year.

Hop couldn’t fully believe what he heard. But when he looked at Thara who was just as speechless as him he realized it. It happened. Leon was willing to endorse them. He did it.  
Before he knew Hop was jumping around full of joy. Running to Thara and shaking her crazy. She was just as happy but didn’t show it like he did. She was enjoying it, nonetheless. Both teenager with a tint of red on their cheeks. 

Professor Magnolia laughed at the scene. Hop always managed to spread his happiness to others.  
Their celebration was cut short when Hop saw something shine in the sky. He jerked back when that something flew right by his face. Leaving everyone shocked. On the ground were two items. Glowing brightly. Hop went to inspect them and picked them up. “Should you really just grab them like this?” asked Thara slightly worried he would get some kind of infection from it. He seemed to be fine. Neither were the things big nor hot in anyway. “Look!” he called, “these are Wishing Stars!”

His words got professor Magnolia to come forward and inspect them. She looked closely. Hop was right these were the so-called Wishing stones. “But, why did they fall from the sky?” she wondered looking up. Scanning the area. There was nothing. How could they have fallen here?  
“Usually they are found in the mines.”

“People say that you receive them when you have a true wish in your heart” Leon stated. Smiling brightly. “That’s rubbish” commented Thara silently. They were no kids to believe this lore. Hop though was very into the idea. “I am going to be champion!” He repeated the phrase three times each time louder. Thara had to cover her ears. He had too much energy. “Now I said it three times. Then it should happen right!” 

Leon laughed. Thara shook her head. Just how simple minded was Hop? Professor Magnolia came to them holding out her hand. “Nonsense. In this state the stones will be useless” she said. “Give them to me for a moment.” They did as they were told. “And here I was trying to convince your brother that you were old enough!” She scolded Hop before making her way inside. Thara cheekily grinning at him. “Just don’t start!” He warned her. 

“Well now that you have been endorsed you should start preparing as soon as possible.” They listened closely when Leon got in depth of what their next steps will be. The time was not on their side, so their best chance was to leave early morning. Leon would talk to Sonia to get them their trainer passes printed and ready to go tomorrow so both of them should send her pictures that were acceptable for that matter. And their first destination will be the wild Area. They needed to cross it to get to Motostoke. It was an old tradition. Young trainers need to prove their skills in there. As dangerous as it might be. 

By the time he was finished Professor Magnolia came back. With two bracelets in her hands. “With this you’ll be able to make use of the Dynamax phenomenon.” She explained. Thara and Hop put them on right away. Staring at them excitedly. They had seen many trainers use this in their gym battles. It would be on the last turn and by that time they hype around it was so big. Audience cheering and clasping in a certain rhythm waiting to the moment. It brought goose bumps to them even thought they were not in the stadium. Hop would a lot often mimic their behavior falling into the same rhythm. Now it might as well be time for them to be cheered on like that.

“Since it will be about time, you should head home and let everyone know.” Suggested Leon. Especially to Thara. “I will be coming over to talk to your mum about this.” He said. Thara nodded. Even though she told him that her mum agreed to this he still wanted to make sure everything was fine. He would be responsible since he endorsed her too.  
“Let’s go Thara!” As always Hop ran off ahead without a warning leaving Thara to catch up. “Stop making a race all the time!” Leon chuckled. Hop was always a kid full of energy and now that he finally had some one to go along with was nice. 

Thara fell behind a lot. Once she reached Wedgehurst she resorted back to walking and try catch her breath. Hop kept running ahead. Just how much stamina did the boy have? She picked up her speed after a short minute, not enough to be running though. She really couldn’t deal with this. Hop waited for her close to her house. “You really need to work on that” he commented. “You’re surprisingly lazy for someone that wants to travel.” He mocked her a lot for that habit. 

“I didn’t expect to be leaving this soon.” 

Hop laughed at her. He wanted to say something but the sound of something crashing caught their attention. They looked at each other before going to its source. It was the fence early this morning. Where that one wooloo wanted to go through. It finally broke. Hop could not believe it. “Darn! That one was from my mom’s herd.” He said, shoulders dropped down. “I’ll be responsible for that!” He groaned. What should they do? “Well, all you did was tell him to stop” commented Thara dryly, “So it is indeed your fault.”

Hop gave her an annoyed look. But let it slide. “Well I guess we’ll have to do something.” Thara grinned. She was thinking about something and Hop knew what it was. “No” he said quickly, “We should wait for Lee to come and take care.” Thara shook her head, “Who knows when that will be. We should go in.”

Hop considered her words. It’s true they should go in quick. Plus, he will hear an earful from his mom. Taking care of the herd was his job after all. “Okay, but we have to hurry up. Before Lee comes in.” Thara nodded, “Don’t worry. It will be quick.”

The Slumbering Weald. A forbidden place that had many rumors around. While Thara could not say much about the truth behind said rumors one thing she needed to admit. It was a scary place. Dark even though they had bright sunlight. Foggy. Everything looked dirty. There were Pokémon around and most of them were small but the further they got in the less they appeared. As if they themselves feared the deeper forest. The fog got thicker and made their view worse. Thara could have sworn that they walked past a human skeleton. Parts of it. Maybe the rumors were true.  
They were deep into the forest but no sign of that damn wooloo. They followed only shortly after it broke through, just how fast was that thing? Unintentionally she held close to Hop’s jacket. Not wanting to lose sight of him. “Crap! I can’t see much!” He cursed.

Then suddenly a loud howl rang through the air. Startling both teenagers. “Wha… was that a Pokémon?!” Wondered Thara. Hop shrugged. If it was one, he had never heard of any that made such a sound. Yet they kept going further. And further. Until the fog would not let them. It was building a wall in front of them. “What now?” asked Thara not daring to go ahead. Hop was shaking himself. Trying his best not to show any fear. 

Another howl. And this time there was more to it. Hop could see it. Glowing eyes approaching them. Amidst the fog was a huge creature, or two? He had no idea. There was something and it came to them. Thara realized that by now too. 

They had never seen Pokémon like that. It was mostly red, with dark blue in its fur. Yellow glowing eyes. The other one was not so visible for them to make out how it looked. They were towering over the teens. Whose Pokémon were ready to fight. But both Hop and Thara had known that they were no match up. The presence was too strong. Too intimidating. Too much. There was nothing they could do yet their Pokémon attacked out of fear. That was when things were even weirder. The attacks went through them. “Wha? It had no effect?” Hop was at a loss for words and no idea for what to do. They had never experienced anything like that. were they even real? Or perhaps just an illusion? Maybe the teens were in this fog for too long.

The creature howled yet again. This time it caused the fog to gather around them. Blurring out their vision even more until everything went black. And no sound was heard anymore. Nothing.  
His eyes opened slowly. Pulling him back to present time. His brother looked at him- worriedly. “Hop! Are you okay?” Hop stirred. Slowly sitting up. He rubbed the back of his head feeling pain. He looked around. Thara was sitting next to him. She must have only woken up judging from her tired eyes. All fog had cleared off and they were in a different spot all together. Not as deep as before. “Why were you here?!” He could hear the anger in Leon’s voice that made him flinch. They messed up. 

“We um..:” Hop had a hard time mustering the right words. “We wanted to save the wooloo that got lost here.” Explained Thara. Hop nodded. “Yeah we needed to get it back! Where is it!” Leon sighed but smiled at them. He looked to the side were his Charizard was standing. With the missing wooloo. Both teenagers let out a sigh of relief. Leon gave them both a helping hand to get to their feet. He realized his lizard getting his claw ready for the other creature, “Charizard, no. We’ll have to bring it back.” The lizard obeyed, a little unhappy. “I’ll feed you later.” He promised.  
Hop yet again sighed. “Well at least wooloo is safe.” Thara smiled. He really had been scared of the consequences. Leon however was not done yet. “I see your point, but still. You should have let me know!” He was not going to leave matter be. 

“You know the Slumbering Weald is dangerous Hop! The two of you are just getting started as trainers.” Hop looked to the ground, adding a silent ‘officially’ to the sentence. They had been trainers for a while now, to be exact. “Well, but it takes a lot of courage to come here. I’ll give you that.” He patted Hop’s shoulder. “Let’s head back, now that I am here there is nothing to worry about.” His Charizard lead the way back. Nothing more was said. Nothing needed to be. At least he did not decide to take back the endorsement. 

Her mother was waiting at the entrance. Leon had gone there to talk to her only to find out that Hop and Thara didn’t come home yet. Which made her worry too. she gave the teens a earful to hear too before hugging her daughter and congratulation her for the endorsement. She let Leon know that she was fine with Thara traveling and was thankful of him to give her the chance to. They bid farewell then so that both could prepare for their journey.

By the time evening rolled by both Thara and Hop had done most of their preparations. Hop more so than her. He was outside in the garden with his brother. Leon was leaning against the fence while Hop was sitting on top of it. Staring up to the sky. It was clear for once giving them a nice view of the endless stars. It was one thing they always did. Just hanging out together. With no one else there. When most people had gone home. If they went out earlier the day, Leon would be crowded by too many people. Hop liked to spend some time more in private.  
Leon cannot come over whenever he wanted to so Hop really preferred his fans to give him some free time.

The older one wrapped his arm around Hop. Squeezing him tightly. “Have you packed everything you need?” Hop nodded. He looked up to his brother. Leon had not stopped worrying for him and kept asking if Thara really was fine with it. He kept talking to her mother for way too long. Just to be sure she was fine with it. Hop understood that there is a level of worrying that just came with his journey, but his brother was overreacting. Too much. 

Leon inhaled deeply before continuing. “You should know that The Wild Area is a dangerous place.” 

The wild Area. Hop researched a lot. It was their biggest natural resort. A place filled with many different species of Pokémon some of which could only be found there. It was a famous place for trainers. They had nearly endless possibilities of catching different Pokémon. Rare Pokémon. Scientists are intrigued as well. The idea of so many different species all in one place was amazing but also came with lots of questions that needed to be solved. Not only that but there were rapid weather changes, rapid climate changes. It was just too weird but awesome at the same time. However, it was not necessarily a paradise. Not at all.

“I know that already, Lee” he replied. Rolling his eyes. Yet Hop would not mention that some news articles did haunt him to this date. Not only were there many different Pokémon, but dangerous ones too. so dangerous that strong and skilled trainers would even have trouble to cope with them. Newcomers were really putting themselves in a life-threatening spot. He couldn’t get that one article out of his mind of a small group of beginner trainer that were squashed to death by a steelix. 

“I am serious about it Hop!” Leon persisted to keep on. “You’ll be educated once you reach there. There will be rules to go by and you have to stick to them.”  
Hop kept nodding. Deciding that it was best to just let his brother talk and lecture him all he wanted. He was right to do so. “And please send you girlfriend an in-depth message of what I told you.” He grinned cheekily when Hop’s face went red. Enjoying his little brother’s embarrassment. “She is just a friend!” Leon rolled his eyes. “Yes, just a friend. Calm down I am just joking” He gave him another tight hug. “But really, I am indeed proud of you.” He thought this moment to be good enough to take a selfie. Rotom flew above them taking a nice picture. 

Leon stood up stretching a bit. “Well let’s go inside. You’ll need a lot of sleep.” Hop jumped off the fence following his brother. Leon stopped at the door. “Hop” he turned around to look at the younger one, “You know, that this all will be a lot different for you than anyone else.” Hop gave him a confused look. Leon placed a hand on his shoulder. “You’ll start off as the Champion’s younger brother. There will be a lot more expectations from you. Please keep that in mind.”  
Hop nodded. “Don’t worry Lee! I am aware of that!” 

Thara was again on the couch. Reading Hop’s messages. His brother was too much for her. But then again, her mom wasn’t different. “How about you help me!” Complained her mom. She was packing up for Thara for a while now. “Uh..., but I am tired.” Her mom came up to her. “You need to know what you have packed. Thara you are about to start a big adventure.”  
Thara sat up not too motivated. “I am sure Hop is all prepared for this!” The redhead sighed. “Hop is obsessed with this!” She stood up nonetheless and made her way to the back. Looking through. Her mom sighed before going to the kitchen. She came back with a bag full of berries. “So why are you going then?” She held the back to Thara for the girl to grab it.  
“Well I guess this is a good chance to have better future careers.” She put the berries into a small side pocket. Her mom was silent. There was nothing more to be said. She knew of her daughter’s desire to just travel and be free of any duty or stress. Her mom sat down next to Thara. Cupping her face. “You know I am proud of your choice” she said, “but this is also going to be incredibly dangerous.”  
“Yeah I know. Wild Area and stuff.”

“I am serious!” Her mother snapped suddenly. Making Thara flinch. Her budew next to her just as shocked.  
“Your father did that too after all.” Her mother had a very sad expression when talking about him. “He told me lots about it. His experience of the Wild Area.”  
Thara listened silently. She knew that her father once was a challenger too, other than her mom. But they never talked about it before. Budew made its way into her lap and was very pleased when Thara started petting it. Her mom smiled at the little green pokémon. “Will you be taking her too?”

Thara nodded. Smiling. “Of course, I have been training her after all.” She hugged budew tightly. “I want it with me, it’s after all a gift from dad.”  
Her mother smiled. Thara was indeed starting to get more mature in these past months. She hugged her tightly. It was soon about time to let her go and that will make her mother sad. But it was just the danger she would be facing that worried her. Thara understood her very well. She hugged back just as tightly. Of course, the redhead was nervous. The journey would take a year. She would be constantly out facing new problems. But the wild Area truly scared her. When she researched on that topic with Hop, they sometimes came across horrific incidents.  
And tomorrow morning will be the day to leave.

Hop’s mom was spending the evening in her kitchen. Not all too pleased with her sons. She never expected Leon to give Hop an endorsement. The lady furiously washed dishes and put them away. Normally she should be checking on Hop. Making sure he was packing up all the things he needed and lecturing him, but Leon took care of that. she on the other hand hadn’t talked to him at all. Mainly because of her anger. She couldn’t understand why Hop was so obsessed with traveling and becoming champion. Leon had achieved everything. There was no way Hop could do the same, there was no need for Hop to do so. He usually helped his mother around the house and she’d rather have him keep doing that. but instead he decided to leave and ditch all the responsibility.  
It was annoying when children do what they want to and ignore everything else. 

Nighttime soon rolled by and everyone proceeded to go to bed. Thara was not that tired and still on her phone. Tomorrow will be a new start. A new way in her life. And she got the chance to go through it all with Hop. She didn’t know if she can handle hanging around him or even compete against him but the idea of having someone with her was nice.  
Speaking of which Hop must have been just as sleepless as her. He texted her. Wondering if Thara was just as excited. Telling her how much Leon lectured him throughout the day and how big of a deal it was for him. And then taking lots of pictures together. Hop sent her one of the many selfies. Thara grinned. They were so close to each other she really adored them. 

She replied by saying that her mom was just the same. And yes, she was just as excited. And how many things she had to pack up. She complained about how heavy her back was already. Hop only laughed. But she couldn’t stop thinking about what might happen. What might come when they leave tomorrow. ‘Are you scared?’. She didn’t want to but really had to bring this up. Thara tried her best to hide her nervousness over the day but that was part of why she can’t sleep. Maybe talking to someone will help ease her up.

Hop took a while for replying but when he did she stared wide eyed on it.  
‘Honestly am nervous bout is, but we’ll manage.”

It ended with one more message after which Thara smiled brightly and laid down and drifted off to sleep. “We’ll be great mate. Tomorrow is the start of our legend!”  
She only replied with a ‘yeah’ and put her phone to the side. Our legend, huh?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really hope you enjoyed this chapter, and constructive criticism is appreciated. I really want to do my best and improve my story writing
> 
> There will be one more chapter only focused on Thara and Hop and that is when they go through the Wild Area, so no worries, other characters will appear soon, but I really couldn't just skip out on this all. 
> 
> A little disclaimer, I am strongly inspired by the Pokemon Special Manga in terms of story elements, there is always more to the characters and they all have rather nice development and especially the way battles are presented is interesting. (And hard to describe, but I'll give my best)
> 
> PS: I have done some sketches for this story, if anyone wants to see them, let me know, I'll let you know my Insta account.


	5. Facing the Dangers of the Wild Area

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally!  
> I am so sorry about my lack of posting. I am really struggling right now and things aren't doing too well for me. I will try my best to post regularly so please bare with me. The Spin-off is ready to be released, but I am not too sure if it's too early to be released or not, I will think about it (Let's just see how this goes)  
> However I will soon post it, so don't worry, I have lots of ideas planned out for that. Plus I have a new story planned, but I do want to get this closer to the end before starting to post the other, but I might have to start sooner, we'll see how it goes.
> 
> More notes on this chapter, I imagine the Wild Area to be much bigger that what it looked like in the games, so for example they would not be able to see Motostoke from the meet up spot.

_There is always a different start to each legend. And each start was unique in its own way._

Night didn’t last very long. At least not long for Hop. He was awake as early as he could. Darkness still lurking outside. It was not time for him to leave but unfortunately for his older brother. Leon could only take so much time out. Since the Gym Challenge was about to start in less than a week there were many things to do for him as champion. Part of which was to get to conferences with the gym leaders and attending interviews and all that stuff.

Hop was slightly disappointed especially when his brother was ready to leave. Only saying goodbye to his family. To his mom and grandparents. They hugged him tightly. They too would have loved it if he could stay longer, just a little bit. At last he came to Hop who was keeping a distance. He didn’t want to show how he felt, but Leon understood him just too well. He put both hands on the younger one’s shoulders. “Well I guess it is time.” He said. Hop nodded. Looking to the ground to avoid eye contact. If only Leon could stay and see him off. He really wished that could happen, but things were just never how you wanted them to be. 

Leon too tried to hide his frustration. He only came for two days after all. “Remember: Keep to the rules. No wandering off the path you have to take.” Hop rolled his eyes. Here we go again. “Have you packed everything you need.” 

“Geez! Lee how many times are you going to ask! I am good.”

Leon hugged him tightly. “I know, but I need to ask.” This hug was different than the other times. Leon held him close. As if he did not want to let go. As if he wished this moment would last forever. He was that worried and Hop felt that. He hugged him back just as tight. No lies this time. Hop was concerned. He had been excited yet there was also a strange feeling of fear in him. Was it because of the Wild Area? Because of the article he and Thara read. Or was he fearing something else. He was brought back from his train of thoughts by Leon ruffling his hear. He kissed the top of Hop’s head before finally letting go. 

“Well then, we’ll meet in Motostoke. Please keep me updated on your travel and especially let me know when you reach there.” He was serious. Giving Hop clear orders. The boy nodded. “Of course, Lee. Everything will be fine.” 

Leon smiled satisfied and walked to the door followed by his family. One last goodbye and he was ready to fly off with his Charizard. He noticed his mom who was not so happy. So he walked up to her. Holding his hands on each side of her face. He knew why she was like this. “Please, I know what I am doing. Hop will be fine.”

It should only be natural for her to worry like this. She was worried when Leon made the decision to go, yet she was still proud of him when he started. In Hop’s case she was way too much against it. She never encouraged him and never supported that idea. Leon knew why and it hurt him to think about it, but now was no time to talk about it. Maybe he should call her later and talk to her. It really wasn’t good to behave like this in front of Hop. 

She didn’t cheer up but nodded. Hop was observing them closely to try and understand her expression but when Leon turned to him, he gave his younger brother a reassuring nod. “So, then I’ll be off.” He climbed on his fire lizard’s back ready to take off. “Lee! I’ll definitely become champion! So, watch out! You hear!” Hop shouted as his brother was leaving. The older one smiled proudly.   
Soon he disappeared into the distance and shortly after the others made their way back into the house. 

Only a couple hours until Hop and Thara needed to leave as well.

Speaking of which said girl was still in her bed. Her mom walked into her room shaking her head. She pulled her blanket off roughly. Making Thara fall to the ground. “Autch!” She looked at her mom with angry eyes. “What was that for?!” Her mom gave back an equally angry look. “You train will leave soon, Thara! You need to go!”

Thara’s eyes widened. She had forgotten to put an alarm. Grabbing her alarm clock and confirming what time it was. "Shit!" She quickly rushed to the bathroom. "Why didn't you wake me up earlier!" Her mother looked at the bathroom door offended. "Be glad I came to look for you! You should be old enough to wake up on your own!" The lady shook her head. Just when would her daughter finally be responsible? “Your cloths are here on the bed!” Her mum shouted. She took Thara’s backpack and went downstairs. Waiting for her daughter to come. Hop had been here before and was just as annoyed that the girl was not ready. He went back to his house waiting there for her. 

After a good half an hour Thara was finally down. Wearing black leggings, a black shirt and black sports jacket with white stripes across. “I feel very sporty” she commented not so happy. Her mom gave her the backpack. “Be glad I cared enough to get some things ready for you.” Thara threw the backpack on. Making a face as soon as its weight was on her back. He mom laughed. “You’ll need to get used to it. There’ll be a lot of sports to do.” She hugged her mom tight. “Be careful Thara. And please let me know when you’ll reach next town.” Thara nodded. It was about time she’ll leave. Otherwise she will miss the train. “I wish the two of you best of luck.” 

She made her way down the road. As she came closer to Hop’s house, she saw the boy standing there. Leant against his garden’s fence deep in thoughts. Once she was close enough, he looked at her. “Finally! Thought I’d start this all alone.” Thara rolled her eyes. “Let’s hurry up we’re already late!” He didn’t give her any chance to react and started running off. Thara sighed in annoyance. “Stop doing that!” She tried her best to catch up. 

While the teens were running through Wedgehurst to the train station they caught a lot of attention. People were interested where the young pair was planning to go. Especially since Hop wouldn’t leave like this unless Leon sent a taxi for him. Or would go directly with him. To say so much they gathered at the entrance of said train station. Observing Thara and Hop. Who were at the moment buying tickets. 

“Oh, rare to see you here Hop” the man in front of them commented and gave a quick nod to Thara to greet her too. Hop smiled proudly at him. “Well we’re leaving. Two tickets for the Wild Area!” The man’s eyes widened in shock. Looking at both of them to see if they really meant it and suddenly he started celebrating. Shouting loudly and call out to the people around to listen to him “Oh! So, you’re taking the Gym Challenge too! You hear that mates!” They all started shouting. “So, Hop you’ll finally follow your brother’s footsteps!” One lady shouted, “Yeah! Finally. Another one who’ll make our reputation rise!” Another person shouted. “Please! Make all Wedgehurst proud.” Said the cashier as he handed them the tickets. “We’re from Postwick” corrected Hop him. The man only laughed. “It’s practically a part of Wedgehurts.”

Hop and Thara quickly went inside to escape all the people. They kept celebrating and bragging about how now the younger brother will make their home shine and how he will be just as good as Leon. Thara was annoyed. Aside from them being this loud they put a lot of pressure on Hop. Their train was due to come in a few minutes. So, they waited. She examined his expression so see if the boy was stressed. She couldn’t read it though.

“Don’t ya think they’re making too big of a deal?” 

“Na, they’re just like that” he replied grinning brightly. Thara wasn’t too convinced but let it slide anyway. Hop was in a good mood so there was no reason to change that.

And soon after their train arrived. They sat across from each other. Browsing through different pictures and information on their next location. 

Hop aside from researching made a selfie and sent it to his brother. Making sure that the window was visible. To let him know that they left. Thara just wrote her mom a message. She wasn’t one for pictures in general. Their ride would be two hours long and she really had not enjoyed it. Most of the time Hop was just blabbering on about the Wild Area, how cool everything looked, how his brother told him to be careful and all that stuff. And then how he will be on the pitch just like Leon and a hundred more things about his brother. Not to forget that he was the ‘unbeatable’ champion. Of course. Thara would only roll her eyes and reply with an ‘I know’. 

Though he kept repeating the "He is the unbeatable champion after all" phrase too often. Was he really telling Thara that over and over again, or was he reminding himself of what he tried to achieve? Thara wasn’t too sure about it. However, she wished that at least for once the boy would stop blabbering so much. Or at least show interest in other things that were not related to his brother. What was all this obsession about?

Somewhere into the ride she fell asleep. And only woke up to someone yanking her hard. Her head shot up almost hitting Hop. Luckily his reflexes were good. “Oi! We’re there!” He said while pulling at her arm. She stood up rubbing her sleepy eyes. “What?” Hop sighed. He pulled her out of the train and once they left the station the girl was all awake. The front area was small with one more building next to the train station. There were people standing. They waved to them to let them know they should be coming over. Behind them the area they needed to go to. Only a small fence separated this front part that they were standing in from the actual wild area. 

The people waving were employees. Paid by the Pokémon League to welcome trainers and educate them. They were supposed to give a clear route that the trainers had to stick to. One that was seemingly safer than others. And then there were rules as to where they had to camp, for how long they should stay in one and the same spot and how to take care of food items so they would not lure in wild Pokémon. The most important thing was that they had to stick to those rules, but they were not a hundred percent guarantee of their survival. They only increased their chances.

As trainers they need to be able to proof themselves to a certain extend. If by any means they’ll come in trouble they would be done fore. Both Thara and Hop questioned their system. Yes, they were educated, but no teams were ready in case they had to save someone. But they kept quiet. The employees were not too thrilled over their job at all. If anything, they would like to leave this place as soon as possible.

Their lessons were long and boring, but the teens still made the effort to note down whatever they had to remember. Though Thara doubted that they’ll have the chance to read them when it came to that. At last they were given a handful of Pokeballs. Special items made for the wild area and only obtainable here. They had to catch at least one Pokémon living in the Area as proof that they indeed crossed it. With that said both teenagers stood there. In front of their new adventure. Taking a deep breath, they made the first real step into the Gym Challenge.

The Wild Area was a place filled with Pokémon from all kinds. It might have been a paradise for those aiming to catch as many as possible. Yet it can just as well end up in their demise.  
Thara was nervous. This was something she had been looking forward to, but the fear would not go away. If they were not good enough this place will be their end. She had seen different articles with Hop. Of people that never made it through. That never came back. It wasn’t too many but still. A lot seemingly turned back in fear and dropped the challenge here all together. 

She didn’t care about the challenge. She wanted to explore. Yet that was not a good idea here.

She stood there watching rookidees flying across a huge grass field. A field reaching so far she could not see when the grass would stop. Yampers were chasing each other, some growlithe getting into fights of dominance. Most Pokémon here were small. ‘It’s safe for now’ she thought. Meanwhile Hop took another selfie to send to his brother. With Thara behind him and the vast reaching Area.

The young girl didn’t even realize when her friend run off. Only when her eyes fell on him, how he was at the side of tall grass. Examining the little creatures. Wondering which one he’ll catch. “This boy!” 

Finally, it was time to make her first step into the unknown. The weather was nice, not too harsh sunlight and the cool wind felt good. She was close enough to see what Hop had been looking at. Getting her ball ready. However suddenly a lot of the rookidees had their eyes on them. Most probably because of Hop. His excitement got the best of him and he came too close to them. Suddenly both teenagers had a cold shiver down their spines.

Then they were swarmed by them. Nearly hundreds of them. Pecking as hard with their beaks as possible. Hop desperately tried to shake them off even running around. Thara tried to hit them. Their beaks were sharp and painful. Both of them used their hands to shield themselves. Blood running down their arms at some point. Hop finally got a chance to call out his Scorbunny. “Amber!” The small bunny attacked as many as he could, but there were too many. Also eventually missing its trainer slightly. Luckily Hop had good reflexes. Thara had to laugh at him. “So, Mr. future Champion! That’s not good” she mocked. Her sobble had a hard time dealing with the foe. Nearly tearing up. “Don’t cry! Use your water pulse!” 

Sobble did as told, still with that whiney face. “I hope you’ll not be like that once evolved.” Budew was weak against rookidee so taking that out was not an option and she feared to lose sight of her own one so that she left in its ball as well.

They managed to keep away from Pokémon after wards. Their first day was plenty eventful with Hop catching a rookidee as a ’placeholder ‘. They had a little argument with Thara calling him a copycat and expecting him to release that one. He refused. Thara herself unfortunately couldn’t get her hands on anything. As soon as they dealt with all the birds the weather changed suddenly. Grayish clouds darkening the fields and rain dropping down on them. Sadly that meant for growlithe to go hide somewhere too. and that was one pokémon she really wanted to have so badly. To have a growlieth and evolve it into an arcanine. And then ride through Galar on its back. 

They tried to get shelter under a huge tree, but it was only partly helping. Sobble however enjoyed the water falling on its skin. While Hop had his scorbunny hidden under his jacket. The small thing liked to be out of its ball so he let it out. 

The rain did not last too long and soon after they continued for some more hours. Mainly because Hop refused to rest. He wanted to reach Motostoke as soon as possible. Eventually once the sun started to set, they had to come to a stop. Choosing a rather open field they set up their tents and prepared a fireplace. All of them were hungry so cooking it had to be. (They ate their packed food on the train.) 

Cooking was none of their forte, so it was a difficult task ahead. Thara made Hop cut down all the ingredients and have him fan the fire. They put everything into the stew pot and waited for it to be done. Thara had to stir and keep an eye on it. She was a little skeptical about the meal. It didn’t look too good but Hop only said that it needed to be edible and not good. ‘I can’t eat bad tasting food’ she murmured.

Hop was playing around with wooloo and Scorbunny. All they while bragging about his catch and Thara’s failed attempts at one. At some point she had enough. “Stop being lazy and help me for once!” she shouted at him. Getting Hop offended. “I did much more for the curry than you!” he snapped back, “all you do is stewing!” he walked up to her. Looking into the pot. “It should be done in just a minute or so anyway.” Thara sighed. Her sobble was sulking behind her. It was too hot to rest in her lap since she was so close to the fire, but it wanted attention too. It could have played with Hop’s Pokémon, but Thara didn’t want hers to be too fond of the boy. Just in case.

Their curry was done and indeed it wasn’t the tastiest she had ever had. Hop ate it in one go. Thara only staring at him in disbelieve. “We need to eat fast, to not attract wild Pokémon.” He looked at her waiting for her to continue eating. Thara rolled her eyes but did eat. With a grimace. 

Their Pokémon enjoyed the curry enough. At least they would be fit and ready to fight more tomorrow. The time might be running low, but training is important too. Especially for Thara. She was just not good enough. During nighttime when both were in their tents, she couldn’t stop wondering about it. Wondering if she really deserved to be here. What had Leon even seen in her? Why had he endorsed her too? of course she was glad he did. It saved her being humiliated later in. but still. She was just the simplest trainer. Nothing special. No big aims for the future. As much as she loved traveling it was not a career from which she could live. How far would she come in this? She turned her head to the side where Hop’s tent was. He must be asleep already. 

He was prepared. And really wanted to win. He had a clear goal from the start and showed how much he worked for it. She could never keep up with him. Never even come close to him. Would Hop still be her friend if she failed. If she ended up being a bad trainer would he not care about her anymore. That is all the region is about. That is all that mattered. After all no one spared bad trainers. Maybe she was just too enthusiastic. She checked the time. Close to midnight. She needed to stand up early morning and go off training her Pokémon. 

She needed to stand up before Hop did and get a chance to catch up. She wanted to at least give her best and not fail in front of his eyes. She wanted to travel through this with him. Maybe his eyes would be more on her if she showed how good of a trainer she could be. Yeah that was a good. It was about time for her to start putting some efforts in her goals. To have a goal.

Tomorrow would be her day.

\-------------------------------

Hop woke up the next morning to a missing tent. Thara wasn’t there anymore. Nowhere. Her items had been packed away. “Where could she be?” He started packing up his own stuff. He was confused. Thara never woke up before him let alone do anything even of she was awake. Once he was ready and Scorbunny on his shoulders he tried to find her. Hm, she would not go back to the same spot as yesterday that would be not like her. They needed to proceed and not go back. So he did too. Looking around everywhere. Today's weather was nice. Warmer than before. Lots of small Pokémon were running around. Maybe he could catch some more around the line. He had already one but that would not stay on his team. He needed more. Rookidee were nice especially if one was able to train them enough that they will be a Coverknight. That was what he was after, but there was a special one he had in mind they might have not come across any but there were special dents. They emitted great energy, enough to dynamx a Pokémon. Even without a trainer. Which was by far the most interesting yet confusing thing to scientists.

Though as of now, they were warned. The dents were dangerous, too dangerous for people only starting their journey. They had no badge yet nor any experience about dynamaxing. Only once they acquired around three badges or more they could go an try their luck. After all their lives would not be in danger if they fail to defeat a gym leader's dynamaxed pokèmon.

He spotted Thara near another field of tall grass. She was chasing a growlithe. Hop noticed a lot of burn marks on her clothing. Her hair was a mess and some parts of her skin had burn marks as well. He was considering jumping in and help her, but he did not. Her face was full of determination. Something he had never seen in her. In that moment Hop was somehow mesmerized by the redhaired girl. How she kept going on without any fear, how she was putting efforts into the thing she wanted to accomplish despite her laziness. How her eyes had a burning passion in them, one Hop never saw in her. Until now he was doubtful that Thara really wanted to come along and do all of this, but now she was into it. He had no idea what exactly changed since they started out, but Thara was going into an amazing way. That moment she was amazingly beautiful to Hop. He stared at her for a good while. She was running all around sending both sobble and rookidee after her target. Both Pokémon were worn out. She must have been training them and encountered the fire-type while doing that. Just for how long has she been awake? 

She was all tired but didn’t give up. growlithe wouldn’t last too much though. It kept running away which is why it endured so long. Once it came to a stop to take a breath Thara saw her chances to catch it. Taking out one of the balls specially given to them she took her aim. Swinging her arm as hard as she could, but toppled over. Luckily, she could prevent the fall. But nonetheless her aim was spot on and she watched the little creature disappear into the ball. Shaking. She waited anxiously for the small ball to stop bouncing. Stop shaking. Hop behind her was just as anxious. Not daring to avert his eyes. After what felt like an eternity, the ball came to a stop.

“Hurray!” Shouted the girl once the creature was kept. Never had Thara felt this satisfied. It was the first time she caught something without any help. 

“Nice! Thara!” She startled at Hop’s voice. Looking at him with widened eyes. Before her face turned all red. She hadn’t noticed him. “Hop! How long have you been staring?!” He chuckled. Making his way to her side. Close. Hop brushed off a strand of hair from her face. Making Thara all the more uncomfortable. “Not too long. Man you look like a mess, mate!”

She pushed his hand away. Not making any eye contact. “I wanted to get some training in.” Her sobble jumped up to her arms. She caught him. “They’re stronger now! Lets battle!” She surprised the purple haired boy. Never had Thara shown this much interest in fighting. There was something burning inside her Hop had never seen before. However he would never refuse a challenge. Ge grinned back at her. “You’re on mate!”

They took enough distance and released their Pokémon. Thara started with her rookidee while Hop send out wooloo. He was ready but careful. Thara might have been up for hours to train. He had wooloo for a while now but it helped mainly in his chores while training was not too often done. Still it was his trusty partner. He counted on him. and wooloo knew that.

“Quick attack!” ordered Thara. Mercilessly attacking his wool Pokémon many times in a row. She worked on Rookidees speed. Bad. Wooloo wasn’t good speed wise. Thara picked up on that in the past. However, Hop was not taking anything. He countered with headbutt. Which hit right when rookidee was about to strike again. Giving him a good force. “Hurry up! Again headbutt!” He wouldn’t give her time to recover. But Thara knew of his style. Impatient just how he was himself. It’s fine, her bird can take some damage. Won’t hurt. 

Suddenly their fight had to come to an end. When a heavy tree trunk was thrown into the battlefield. Both Trainer unable to say something. Luckily none of their Pokémon was hit so they called them back quickly. A cry rang through the air. Upon looking where it came from, they saw a Machamp approaching. An angry one. Strong one. With its four arms it was ripping off yet another tree. Mainly aiming at Thara when throwing that one. 

She dodges but the force of the throw had her falling on her back. She couldn’t really process the whole thing. Machamp came to her. Her rookidee was not having hit. It flew around Machamp’s head trying to distract it. Though even with its type advantage it won’t be able to do anything.

“Thara!” Hop was behind them. Wondering what he could do to help her. Before they came here people in the meetup spot had warned them. They could and most probably will be facing strong Pokémon. Pokémon they would not be a matchup for. There wasn’t much to do other than run. But for that matter they had to be able to do so. It was completely fixed on Thara. Maybe her battle against wild growlieth caught its attention. 

He called Wooloo back into its ball. It would not be any help and had on top of that type disadvantage. He would only risk losing his partner. So he released Scorbunny but kept it in his arms. “We need to distract it from Thara!” His little fire type nodded. It took its aim and used amber. The attack did no harm at all, all the fire just bounced off Machamp’s body. Yet worked to get its attention. And its furious eyes were now all fixed-on Hop. Who gulped.   
This was not going to end well. He was ready and darted down the other way when Machamp ran. It was fast but he could outrun it. Hopefully. There wasn’t an actual forest but enough trees around that Hop had the chance to climb up. He was a good climber and for that matter really glad that he did it so often. 

He was safe for now, but that won’t last for long. Machamp shook the tree. Strongly. The young teenager struggled to hold on to it. But there was a chance. He could see the wild Pokémon clear enough. It looked at him with intense eyes. “We need to get out of here” he said, “Score! Jump down and use your amber on its eyes!” It was risky. Very risky. But scorbunny was fast. 

His partner nodded without any trace of fear or doubt. Taking a moment to breath in Hop waited. Just for a second before dropping Scorbunny down. His amber was strong. And fast. And luckily enough hit where it should have.

Machamp cried out in pain. Covering its eyes with two arms. It tumbled backwards furiously swinging its other arms around. Scorbunny landed on the ground. Unharmed. It waited for Hop to come down to jump back on his shoulder. 

The boy ran as fast as he could to Thara. She had been standing there worried for him. but there was no time to worry now. He grabbed her at the wrist and pulled her along. The faster they escape the better. Thara looked behind her. More Machamps were appearing in the back. Crying loudly but there were not following. Good call. They got away before the situation could get any worse. 

That was a lot of stress. Both teenagers would not stop running until Thara really could not go any further. She crashed. “I am done!” Hop kneeled before her. Looking intensely at her face. “You’re not hurt are you?” Thara shook her head.

She had slight burn marks and a very tired look but other than that she seemed to be fine. “How long have ya been training?”

“Just a few hours.” She slept only for a couple of hours at best. But what got over her that she wanted to train so much?

For now, she needed to rest and Hop gave her the chance to. As they were escaping, they were now on an open field with not trees around. Next to them a huge lake. Hop took the opportunity to go fishing. They had some leftover curry from the day before securely stashed in their backs. Which Thara ate and gave her Pokémon some too. 

It was early noon by now. They spent an hour and a half there. Hop never caught anything sparkling his interest and gave up soon after. He helped Thara with her band aids and kept checking if she was doing fine. And soon after they continued. 

There was no time to waste. Motostoke was still too far away. Weather here in the Wild Area can change any moment so it was best to take advantage of good weather conditions. Thara was sore and tired but she understood why they had to go on. She didn’t want to ruin Hop’s chances at the challenge. And not be one of those that never even made it through the Area.   
But she hoped that at least they won’t be facing death again. That Machamp was too much for her. Too much. 

On their way were occasionally berry trees from which they collected a lot of. Thara would eventually have Skwovet and Greedent fall down on her and eat a lot of berries she tried to collect. Making the girl throw a huge tantrum. After that she was cursing and ranting for hours. Using every swear word coming to her mind. After all the girl had short tempter problems. Hop didn’t even brag about how he had collected more than her.

But they had another incident with wild Yampers chasing them around. One or two were fine but a whole group can give you quit some electricity. Sobble was no good to use and rookidee neither. Her growlithe was new and hard to order around but it managed some damage. Hop used his chance to catch one of them. One that seemingly had very good stats and a strong nature. “That makes 2 to 1 right”. Now his bragging started again. 

Thara was so close to throw her back at him but she still needed that. She tried catching Yamper too, but they were fast for their small size. 

She caught later in the evening one that was lost. And followed them around for hours. It wasn’t even hard to catch and she had now even score with Hop. How called her imitator. “You copied me by catching a rookidee first!” She snarled. But they left it at there.

They set up another camp to rest. It’s best to continue their journey in the morning. Hop readied a pot for cooking and set up the fire. Thara against her will, threw berries into it she had collected. Since Hop sacrificed his own the first time they cooked. But he still did more of the cutting and prepping. She was to throw into it. Though she left most of the work to Hop.   
They ate and chatted. Their Pokémon played around. Almost fooling them that the place was not as dangerous as they thought. But they knew better. The camp side had been far away from the lake. Earlier the day they saw a gyrados while diving down. They saw it’s tail fin disappearing and decided to get far away from there. They really didn’t want to deal with that Pokémon of all. Too much dangerous.

Thara took out a camera to start recording a 'digital diary' so she could later on come back to the footage and re-watch her amazing adventure, or at least that was the plan. The amazing part somehow had not reached her yet.

_Note down: Second day, full of events too. Near death experience. I was struggling. Hop said this was a nice addition to his legend. Idiot._

When night fall, they both were lying in their own tents sleepless. Thara was thinking. What would come in the next few day. She now wanted to participate in the challenge though her motivations weren’t as big as Hop’s. She sometimes felt weird wanting to do the same as him. As if she did not deserve to do it. If not for Hop, she wouldn’t even be here. She turned to her side. Right next to her tent was Hop’s. she was wondering whether he was still awake. 

Thara never liked to be around people she preferred doing her things on her own. But Hop was different. She enjoyed his company and enjoyed how he pushed her to go on even if she complained most of the time. She started liking him a lot. To the point that she would go to the living room only to stare at the door and wait. Wait until he would come by and knock. Until he would come and offer to go next town seeing new Pokémon that were introduced as new breeding projects. Or train with him. She liked all of it a lot. Until she started wanting to go out to travel. With Hop. 

Thara turned on her back again. Staring to the top. “If only he had more than just that one thing in his mind” she murmured.

Meanwhile Hop couldn’t fall asleep either. He too was staring up. Holding the pokeballs of his Wooloo and the one he got from his brother. Soon. He thought. Motostoke was not far. They should make it there during daytime. Then he will finally sign up for the Gym challenge. That would be his first step to his dreams. The first step to reach his brother. It’s still hard for him to believe. That he was here now. That Leon endorsed him. Only a few years back he would run to the living room and excitedly watch all matches. Being the most excited for Leon to appear and defend his title. Cheering him on even though he could not hear him. 

And afterwards video chatting with him and blabbering on how amazing he was. Now it all felt a little silly to him. He laughed at the memory. How he would use his blanket and tie it, so it looked like a cape. Very much like his brother’s and playing with his grandma. What was he back then? 7 or 8 years perhaps. Now the time came that he would be the one to be cheered on. Now he would be the one standing in the stadium and being in focus. His brother will watch it all. He needed to show him how good he is. “Tomorrow is the day” he whispered before putting the balls away and trying to drift off to sleep.

Morning came faster than expected. At least too fast for Thara. She was still sore from yesterday and would much prefer to sleep more. Hop as always was up early and ready to go. Well Hop training his Pokémon was loud enough that she wouldn’t be able to sleep any longer. She packed all her stuff making sure everything was there and walked up to her friend. Her eyes already starting to have bags under them. Was this maybe too much for her? With Sobble was in her arms. Rubbing its head on her trying to get her attention and maybe cheer her up. It was a cute display and at least got a smile on her face. She petted it. She liked holding him like this. And once it evolves, she won’t be able to hold it anyway. 

“Oh, hey there, finally awake?” Hop waved at her. His Scorbunny jumping on his shoulders and holding its balance with his head. “Now we can finally leave” He said to his wooloo. Giving it an apologetic smile since he needed to call it back to its ball. He usually liked having it next to him and Wooloo too didn’t like it too much to be in there. But they needed to be fast and this area is dangerous. His wooloo is not strong enough yet. Scorbunny however could stay outside. It was smaller and therefore could stay on his shoulders. That wouldn’t slow him down. 

“Why do you always need to be in such a hurry?” Thara complained. Still sleepy. “Well, I don’t wanna miss out on the challenge just because we were late!” He sighed. Other than his friend he had been taken note on how many days have past and how many are left for them. He needed to be in a hurry. That was better than being too slow and then regretting. This was at least for him his only chance to participate. If he misses out on it because he didn’t make it on time than his brother might never again endorse him. And he needs to be the best. He pointed up ahead. The air seemed to be really cool and foggy. There wasn’t much to be seen. “We need to cross that section to reach Motostoke” he said, “and that fog will slow us down anyway. So, we need to hurry up and leave.” 

“Yeah, yeah. I know,” Thara proceeded to catch up to him. Hoping that the boy for once would not make a race out of their walk. The air really cooled down so much that she shivered. Which was so weird only few yards behind them was warm sunny weather. Now it’s cold, foggy and raining. She heard of those phenomena that keep happening inside the wild area. It intrigued many scientists to research why this was happening. Most popular theories are that the amount of different Pokémon. There are many Pokémon with abilities to change or influence weather conditions. And when a lot of the same abilities are gathered around in one spot it can even lead to permanent weather change. They really needed to be careful. No one knows what caused the fog. What Pokémon lied beyond that that might use this to lure in prey. Thara walked close by Hop’s side. Grabbing his jacket’s sleeve. She was a little scared. Never had she walked through a place where she couldn’t see much around her. She was glad that Hop was here and not leaving her behind.

He was silent. She couldn’t tell if the boy realized her fear or nor. Or perhaps he was so focused on his goal that he did not pay her any mind. She hoped for the last one. She did not want him to see her as a weak scared girl. Not Hop out of all. Suddenly something slithered by. It was huge and made a scratchy sound. As if rocks were sliding by. Huge rocks. Hop stopped. He noticed it too. He tried his best to scan the area. Silently. Waiting. For a moment it was as if time as stopped. Thara couldn’t process in time what happened. She saw something lashing at them and only seconds after she found herself on the ground. A stinging pain in her upper back. Hop pushed her to the side while only barely dodging himself. Once Thara opened her eyes she scanned the scene. There was Hop standing still and trying not to move. In front of him an Onix. Which should have been odd. As a rock type it would not do good in rain. Sometimes it did happen though. When they were not able to bury deep enough to flee the water. It depended on its body to stay rock hard. In rain it would get all drained and start to have many layers of mud sticking onto it. Luckily for the rock giant it was only raining and not snowing. Rock types rarely survived in the freezing cold.

Hop did exactly what they were trained to do. Back down slowly not turning his back to the giant. He held his arm up hoping that the monster in front of him understood that he was not a threat. Being out in the open many Pokémon felt vulnerable. Anything coming close to them might be danger. That was the worst-case scenario. Their Pokémon would never be able to face it off already. She too slowly stood up walking over to him. Holding her hands up. “How many people were squished to death by an Onix?” she whispered the question to him. “Quite some, but this is not the moment to think about that.” He replied. Onix did not do much. It stared at them. Probably deciding whether they were dangerous or not. Nearly forever. Thara wondered how much longer it will take. But luckily Onix turned around and proceeded to find a spot to burry down. Once it was not only out of sight but also not to be heard anymore both teenagers let out a breath of relieve. 

“That was a close call” Hop said. He was panting heavily as if he had been sprinting for ours now. Thara couldn’t even make up a sentence. Only thinking that they really didn’t need that for their first time here. Only a few minutes of standing there and catching their breaths and both moved on. Hop had his phone out guiding the right way. One could tell how much more he was prepared for this all than his red-haired friend. They had to rest several times on their way but at some point, the fog finally cleared off and revealed one of the most beautiful views Thara had ever seen in her life. Wide green fields with tall grass surrounding a huge lake. 

Clear blue sky and tall trees. Pokémon were running, were flying were swimming. It was just amazing. The most mesmerizing view they had ever seen. The teens eyes went everywhere in awe. But then Hop spotted their destination before them. “There it is! Motostoke.” And a midst it all was what they were aiming for. The huge open gates of Motostoke. It wasn’t too far anymore. They could see it. Then Hop did what he always does. Running up ahead staring a race. Thara grunted. “Stop always starting off before calling the race!” She still ran after, nonetheless. She couldn’t be left behind. 

Reaching the city wasn’t easy. They had to dodge rookidees flying into their way. Zickzagoons running in front of them. Pelipper and wingull blocking their vision. Hop used the chance to catch himself yet another pokémon. One that would prove useful against one of the upcoming gym leaders. A mudbray. Luckily the gyrados they saw did not bother coming at them. 

And then, they finally reached the gates.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please note, that I am not really sticking to where the Pokemon usually appear inside of the Wild Area, just so you know.  
> This is only their first time inside there, and they obviously have to go back there for Hammerlock, so let's see how that goes ;)  
> However now it's time for the opening ceremony, and meeting many rivals. I just love the rivalry that comes with Sword and Shield.
> 
> I really hope you enjoyed this chapter and feel free to let me know if there is something I could improve on or work harder, I really want to get better at writing.

**Author's Note:**

> First off, I decided to shorten the first chapter. To get people an idea on what Thara was like and how she befriended with Hop. The start might feel slow, but I promise we'll get there. And it will differ from canon a lot.  
> Plus I kept thinking of a certain social aspect of said Gym Challenge, since it is a great influence. And Postwick and Wedgehurst are rather small and quiet places, where there really don't seem to be too many to train pokemon.  
> Another note: I decided for Thara to be no too interested in the Challenge yet still ending up in there. She is not a super talented trainer from the start and not acing in everything. I noticed that that is a popular depiction of the player character, but I don't like to have a character like this. There'll be a lot of developing characters and more focus on others. Especially the rivals, since the rival role is supposed to be an important one in the Pokemon universe  
> I hope you enjoyed the read and please let me know what you thought on this. My biggest goal is to improve in writing.


End file.
